United States v. Kuehne

Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in support of Defendants-Appellants in Support of Affirmance of Dismissal of money laundering conspiracy count.

Brief filed: 06/15/2009

Documents

United States v. Kuehne

11th Circuit Court of Appeals; Case No. 09-10199

Argument(s)

In that Congress provided an exception to the money laundering statutes, 18 U.S.C. §1956-1957, for bona fideattorneys’ fees – transactions “necessary to preserve” an individual’s Sixth Amendment right to representation—the government’s parsimonious view of what is “necessary” to a defense threatens to hamstring all complex criminal defense efforts by interjecting the threat of prosecution into every monetary transaction over $10,000 in which counsel enters. The threat of possible prosecution of retained counsel in virtually any case may well dissuade attorneys from taking on clients in certain types of cases, thus depriving some defendants of their right to counsel of choice.

Author(s)

Howard M. Shapiro, Jonathan E. Neuchterlein, et al., WilmerHale LLP, Washington, DC, and David Oscar Markus, Miami, FL. Brief in Support of Defendant's Motion to Dismiss before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.