NCJ Number
122678
Journal
Trial Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (April 1990) Pages: 44-50
Date Published
1990
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Two recent Supreme Court decisions make it possible for a prosecutor to allege that the accused's assets are subject to forfeiture, thus determining whether the criminal defendant will have sufficient funds to hire a lawyer. These decisions impact heavily on criminal defense lawyers.
Abstract
Attorney fee forfeiture is authorized under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and will become more common as prosecutions for drug dealing increase. Statutory authorities relating to fee forfeiture are discussed in detail, as are the two Supreme Court decisions, Caplin and Drysdale, Chartered v. United States and United States v. Monsanto. Other issues involve the legality of recovering from defense attorneys property transferred to them by criminal defendants, possible intimidation of defense attorneys by federal prosecutors, and attorney-client fee transactions that are relatively safe from forfeiture actions. 22 footnotes.