Author Archives: David S. Zapp and Johanna S. Zapp

By David and Johanna Zapp

1. “When conducted in this country (U.S.), federal wiretaps are governed by federal wiretap law, but not outside the United States.” Maturo, 982 F.2d at 60.
2. The Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule, suppressing evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment’s (right to be free from unreasonable searches), generally does not apply to evidence […]
   

By BENJAMIN WEISER, The New York Times, (edited), AUG. 26, 2016,

When Defendant pleaded guilty, he apologized in court. But this week federal prosecutors revealed that they had also been reading his emails. And they say the emails, sent from jail portray him as unrepentant. The government memo included copies of some of the emails. They […]

By the New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said on Thursday that it would begin to phase out the use of private for-profit prisons to house federal inmates. In announcing the policy shift, the Justice Department cited a critical recent report by the department’s independent inspector general about safety and security problems in […]

Judges in Mexico have temporarily halted the extradition of Joaquín Guzmán Loera,  “El Chapo,” pending the outcome of appeals filed this week by Mr. Guzmán’s lawyers. The appeals argue in part that some of the accusations are based on hearsay rather than direct evidence.

I don’t know why lawyers in Colombia and elsewhere do not raise […]

By Adam Liptak – March 30, 2016

For the New York Times

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday arose from the prosecution of a Florida woman for Medicare fraud that, according to the government, involved $45 million in charges for unneeded or nonexistent services.

The government may not freeze assets needed to pay criminal defense lawyers if the […]

TTP: “What did you think of Jorge 40 being kicked out of the Peace and Justice Commission for not cooperating?”

David Zapp – “I think it was the best example of chutzpah.”

TTP: “What’s chutzpah?”

David Zapp – “It’s the Hebrew word for “nerve” like when a man is accused of murdering his parents and then falls on […]

In sentencing the high-ranking commander of the AUC, Judge Walton rejected the government’s argument that Jorge 40 should be sentenced as a large-scale narcotics trafficker. The judge’s reasoning was that the evidence showed that Jorge 40 was a soldier imposing a “war tax” on legal and illegal businesses in his territory to fund a war […]

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines do not determine the sentence. A law, 18 United States Code 3553(a), lists the factors that determine the sentence. One of those factors is the sentencing guideline applicable to the offense that the judge is free to ignore, reject entirely, or, modify.” Often the parties agree on the guideline and they […]

The Obligations of a Defense Lawyer to Give You “Effective Assistance”

This article came up as a response to a reader’s suggestion that an office should be established to oversee the performance of lawyers. That’s not necessary because defendants who speak up can tell a judge all he needs to know. But you must speak up! […]

Ex-defendants who have cooperated with law enforcement and have served their sentences, are trying to monetized their experience by bringing drug dealers to U.S. agents—for a price, of course to be paid by the drug dealers. The quid pro quo though is that the drug dealers have to cooperate with the government. Some lawyers have begun […]