|
Don't go it alone. Your client deserves the best defense. Your client may expect to be vindicated at trial, but you know the truth — acquittals in drug cases are few and far between. Proving informant and agent misconduct may not win your case. However, it is a card that can be effectively played, winning favorable plea bargains and downward departures at sentencing. Dennis Fitzgerald has assembled a cadre of retired federal, state and local law enforcement officers to provide you with a full range of case support including expert testimony. He has 35 years of experience in both international and domestic law enforcement and law enforcement training. He has served as a police supervisor with the City of Miami Police Department and as a Special Agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Fitzgerald is a law school graduate with extensive training by agencies of the U.S. government. He was the co-founder and director of the National Institute for Drug Enforcement Training and has served as a visiting faculty member at the FBI's International Law Enforcement Training Academy. He is the author of a nationally recognized criminal law deskbook published by West Publishing, N.Y., several criminal justice training manuals and related magazine articles, including Inside the Informant File. Fitzgerald's latest resource book is Informants and Undercover Investigations: A Practical Guide to Law, Policy, and Procedure (CRC Press, 2007). A new book, Reward: Inside America's Billion Dollar Informant Network, will be released in 2008.
Case File Review Fitzgerald or one of his associates can complete a full case file review. Their findings will be invaluable as you prepare your trial strategy. Their honest evaluation of your client's case may also aid you when you advise your client that a negotiated plea is his only alternative to the certainty of a lengthy prison sentence. Informant Impeachment Winning a criminal trial either dominated by or peppered with testimony from government informants is an uphill battle. However, it is often a battle that is needlessly lost by unprepared criminal defense attorneys. You wouldn't handle a police shooting case without first knowing an agency's use of force policy. Yet defense attorneys throughout the country fail to recognize that similar policies have been established for the handling of informants. Having those policies and procedures at your disposal are invaluable as you prepare your trial strategy. When appropriate, expert testimony is also available. Client Debriefing: Crossing the Cooperation Threshold While your client may expect to be vindicated at trial, you know the real truth: Acquittals are few and far between. When cooperating with the government is your only option, how you present the information that your client has to offer to the government is essential. Your client's freedom may be directly tied to the value of the information he is willing to exchange for his freedom or a downward departure in his sentence. Fitzgerald or one of his associates can assist you in conducting a full debriefing of your client — just like the one he can expect when he begins to cooperate. Only a former agent knows what the case agent wants to hear. In lieu of a face-to-face debriefing, Fitzgerald can supply you with the same Source Debriefing Guide used by agents and intelligence analysts. Getting the most out of what your client knows is directly tied to how favorable a deal you strike with the prosecutor. Getting the Most Out of Informant Agreements
While your client may not like the title, once he begins to cooperate with a law enforcement agency, he is assigned the title of informant or cooperating witness. The terms of his cooperation will be prepared by the government agency in contract form known as an informant agreement. He will have to live with what is contained within the four corners of that document. Fitzgerald can assist you in negotiating an agreement your client can live with. Maximizing Rewards You or your client may have "original information" that can command a substantial cash reward. Fitzgerald can guide you through the process of "packaging the information" to maximize its value. As a former Special Agent and an attorney, he can also act as an intermediary between you and the receiving government agency. Witness Protection Cooperating with the government can be life threatening. That is why the U.S. Marshals Service Witness Security Program is expanding every year as more defendants chose to cooperate with the government. Dennis Fitzgerald is one of the few non-U.S. Marshals to have attended USMS Witness Security Training. He can advise you on how your client can gain admittance to a program that is secretive and extremely difficult to qualify for. He can provide you with the same Threat Assessment and Risk Assessment forms used by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Enforcement Operations (OEO). He can also provide you with a copy of his booklet, A Practical Guide to Witness Protection. It will explain in detail exactly what the client can expect from the time he requests witness protection through the change of identity and relocation process.
Read Informants and Undercover Investigations: A Practical Guide to Law, Policy, and Procedure (CRC Press, 2007) before you plead your client guilty. It includes:
View
the front and back of the book jacket. Available at CRCPress.com and Amazon.com.
A new book, Reward: Inside America's Billion Dollar Informant Network, will be released in 2008.
Contact:
Informant
Law Case Assistance | Law Enforcement
Agency Procedures
Disclaimer: Use of uncopyrighted agency logos does not imply agency approval of services rendered. © 2004
Dennis Fitzgerald |
Rules for controlling informants
