John Edwards Federal Indictment
John Edwards will be facing a federal jury at some point during the next two years. This type of case is considered a white collar criminal case because of the nature of the charges. The case will be difficult for the government to prove not only because the violation is not clear, but Edward's federal defense lawyer will be more than prepared to fight these charges. ABC news released his Edward's mug shot today and their comment that his smile was a bad idea is actually incorrect. Having defended many individuals in federal court, I can tell you that the mug shot will come into play at a trial. His picture is perfect for the defense. He is not ashamed, he is not afraid, and he shows that he is a professional. Many time people are crying and have their head down which is easy to do in this situation, but the stronger you are in the beginning they better your chances.
Why these particular charges?
1. Conspiracy- the government charged Edwards with conspiracy because they have obviously gotten someone close to him to testify against him and they indicted that person as well or threatened to indicted them in exchange for their cooperation against Edwards. In plain English, the government cannot prove Edwards did anything wrong without having someone else admit they also acted illegally with Edwards.
2. Illegal Campaign Contributions- this charge is ridiculous and is thrown into the mix to get the jury to believe Edwards was playing the system. The man is a multimillionaire, he did not need to funnel campaign funds to a mistress. This will be the hardest count for the government to prove.
3. False Statements- this is the winning count for the government. They put an agent on the stand who testifies that Edwards told them "A" on Monday and then they discovered that it was actually "B" on the Monday. Therefore, he has lied to the government agent during a federal investigation. The trick here is that anything can be construed as Edwards not being completely forthcoming. The government indicts people for lying when they really do not have anything else to indict. It should not be allowed in our system. There is no requirement in our Constitution that you must be truthful with the government when they are investigating you. Why in the Hell should anyone have to sit down with the government and hang themselves?
A good federal defense lawyer rarely allows their client to speak with the government without some type of immunity from prosecution. In this case we will not know until the trial starts as to what has occurred, but we do know right now that there is a strong probability that Edwards should have never been indicted.
Our Myrtle Beach Lawyer is able to represent individuals charged with federal indictments in most jurisdictions. We also have a criminal defense lawyer in Charleston that handles federal indictments. We recently opened a criminal defense firm in New York and our New York Criminal Defense Lawyer handles federal indictments in the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York.
