Federal government argues that merely ACCUSING you of a crime allows them to seize all your financial assets, denying you funds to afford a defense lawyer
by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Is the U.S. Supreme Court set to give prosecutors authority to strip defendants of their own means of self-defense? It’s possible, depending upon what the high court decides in a very important case that could determine your ability to maintain enough resources to hire a defense lawyer.
In Luis v. US, federal prosecutors are arguing that the government has the power to freeze all of a defendant’s assets, including those that were not earned through criminal activity, in the latest twist and insult to freedom involving civil asset forfeiture.
“What the government proposes to do is financially cripple someone before they’ve been convicted, before they’ve had a trial and not allow them to use assets that are theirs to try to match the government in the courtroom,” defense attorney Howard Srebnick told reporters, in reference to oral arguments made before the high court by U.S. attorneys Nov. 10.
As noted by Off The Grid News:
Srebnick is representing Sila Luis, who owns home health care companies and is accused of a scam to defraud Medicare. The US attorney froze all of Luis’s assets, including money not related to the alleged fraud, after it indicted her in 2012, NPR reported. Srebnick contends that deprives Luis of her Sixth Amendment right to counsel by taking away money she could use to hire a defense attorney.
Federal prosecutors allege that Luis will not have enough funds left over to pay restitution to Medicare if she is permitted to use her available resources to hire a defense lawyer. But in court proceedings, the government has stipulated that not all of Luis’ assets were earned dishonestly.
Isn’t the Constitution clear?
The Rest…HERE
