State and Federal Charges

Sometimes a client will ask, "Why are we in state court?" or "Why are we in federal court for our drug case, what's the difference?" Well, generally speaking federal court prosecutions are dependent on the word quantity, and I mean quantity of drugs, number of co-defendants or quantity of money seized. The federal government and state government can both prosecute for any amount of drug in theory. In practicality, though, the federal government is not likely to prosecute you for a small amount of drugs in less, of course, you are a senator. They have neither the inclination nor resources to take up those prosecutions. So if it's a smaller amount of drugs, then will likely to be tried in state court. That is not to say that many Kilos of cocaine won't put you into state court, but odds are the federal government is not going to be interested unless we are talking about a lot of drugs or a large scale conspiracy.

Procedurally, federal and state are quite different. In state court no matter how many drugs you are alleged to possessed or sold you are bail-able you can get bail. You make bail you come to court perhaps even several weeks later and you are a free man. With your lawyer, you will maintain your freedom as long as you don't violate the conditions of bail. In federal court you are not automatically bail-able. Pretrial release is dependent on several factors. Do not be surprised in federal court if the prosecution decides that you shouldn't be released. Under those circumstances you will be forced to go through something called a detention hearing to determine whether or not there are conditions of release that will satisfy a magistrate. Under such circumstances you better have good representation; you better have a lawyer that can effectively argue to the judge that you are not a flight risk, and you are not a danger to the community. If you do that then you have a good chance of being released. Further differences between state and federal court is that in state court you may be going to court many times before your case is set for trial. In federal court, it does not work that way. After arraignment you will likely be given a document control order; you will already have a trial date. Things move rather quickly in federal court. You better have representation that understands the procedure and can usher you through the landmines of federal court, or you are going to be in some serious trouble.