Chapter 11 - Organizing a Criminal Defense

Abstract

Legal defenses to organized crimes are somewhat more complex than those for conventional crimes. Although the available defenses themselves do not change, the applicability of various defenses is an issue for some crimes more so than for others. Several examples of defenses that come up almost exclusively in cases of organized crime serve to illustrate the point: entrapment, duress, and other more offense-specific claims. Sometimes defendants make claims in an effort to avoid culpability and conviction. Most of these claims are not allowable defenses or else are permitted only in very limited circumstances. Those claims most common in organized crime cases include adequacy of representation, RICO participation, gambling while intoxicated, the consequences of extortion and perjury, and amnesia. An understanding of how these defenses apply in principle will enable one to anticipate their relevance in actual cases in the future. The issue of “mob-connected” lawyers appears to be small, but a greater effort toward detection and disciplinary actions against violating attorneys appears necessary.