PREFACE – Order Now!

“Among citizens of the United States, there is a widely held, fundamental belief that the criminal justice system exists to protect law-abiding citizens and that when this system errs, it errs on the side of leniency to the guilty, rather than deliberate prosecution of the innocent.”

“Most of us believe in this premise as surely as we believe that a person must be considered innocent until he has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; that double jeopardy prevents anyone from being tried over and over again for the same crime and that once a debt has been paid to society, the debt is paid in full.” -Judith McNaught, Author.

While this may be true in theory, in practice a different reality often occurs. I was a criminal defendant targeted by the I.R.S. and U.S. Government, indicted and convicted, and I can attest to the serious disadvantage criminal defendants face in the criminal justice system. Most defendants are without the financial and legal resources to defend their innocence, without effective assistance of defense counsel while facing routine prosecutorial misconduct by government attorneys, and victims of abuse of discretion by district court judges.

Criminal defendants are presumed “guilty when charged”. Whether innocent or guilty, convictions are almost guaranteed by a criminal justice system that has become a huge bureaucracy without the ability to protect the constitutional rights of criminal defendants. This bureaucracy fails to guarantee the fairness of the proceedings or the verdicts, fails to demand the sufficiency and reliability of the evidence proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and fails to keep the criminal justice system accountable to the “law of the land”.

From my viewpoint as a reasonably intelligent criminal defendant, at least one of every six federal cases I have seen has resulted in a gross miscarriage of justice– including my own. After facing the reality of the criminal justice system as a pre-trial detainee held without bail, like many other criminal defendants, I elected to plead guilty to crimes I did not commit rather than face the threat of three times the prison term and a guaranteed conviction in this district if I went to trial and was convicted.

As a criminal defendant, at every turn in the road I met with overwhelming obstacles. I could not rely on defense counsel to advocate on my behalf so I had to become proficient at legal research as a pro se defendant and I had to educate myself in matters of law and facts relevant to my case.

The purpose of the “Criminal Defendant’s Handbook” is to prepare a criminal defendant for what he/she will be facing and offer a step-by-step guide to U.S. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals legal authorities as well as detailed information on what to expect from arrest and indictment until sentencing. For those courageous men and women who elect to proceed pro se, this is a do-it-yourself legal research and motion preparation resource.

For those who rely upon defense counsel, the “Federal Criminal Defendant’s Handbook” will give a better idea of what to expect of defense counsel and hold them accountable to their professional duty and responsibility. Information is power. Knowledge is power. May it be used it wisely and intelligently.