So if someone is charged with the Bank Fraud, for instance, that person can also be charged with Conspiracy to commit Bank Fraud.

Conspiracy requires that two or more people conspire to commit a Federal crime, and that one or more of these individuals do any act (sometimes referred to as an overt act) to effect the object of the conspiracy.

To be charged with Conspiracy, therefore, two or more individuals must not only discuss,scheme, or otherwise plan to commit a Federal Crime, but one or more of them must do something to accomplish the goal or object of the conspiracy.

Federal Conspiracy Laws are a powerful tool in "White Collar" cases involving multiple parties and complex financial transactions.

Most people think of street crimes such as murder, robbery, theft, burglary, assault, sexual assault and the like when the term "Crime" is used. "White Collar" crimes usually refer to embezzlement, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, and many Federal conspiracy crimes.

Black's Law Dictionary further defines an indictment as "an accusation in writing found and presented by a grand jury, legally convoked and sworn, to the court in which it is impaneled, charging that a person therein named has done some act, or been guilty of some omission, which by law, is a public offense, punishable on indictment."

Old Constitutional law distinguished an indictment as being " preferred at the suit of the government, and is usually framed in the first instance by the prosecuting officer of the government, and by him laid before the grand jury, to be found or ignored."

In Texas, the District Attorney prepares the accusation and presents it to the Grand Jury through a state's witness, usually a law enforcement officer. The Grand Jury only has to find that a crime was probably committed, and that the person accused (in the written accusation prepared by the prosecutor) probably did it.

The Indictment is the first step into the system for a person accused of a crime. The process has begun whereby the case goes to a District Court, attorneys are retained or appointed by the court, and the person becomes a "Defendant" to be tried by a jury or a judge.

A subpoena is issued by the clerk of the court where the appearance of the witness is required, upon the application of the attorney for the party requesting the subpoena.

I presented hundreds of such cases in my 12 year stint with the United States Attorney's office in Houston. In these cases, evidence is presented in the form of "hearsay" testimony from a testifying agent with knowledge of the particular case. Many times in large jurisdictions such as the Southern District of Texas, over a dozen cases will be presented during a day's session. I have seen cases where over 35 indictments were returned at one session. These sessions are recorded by a court reporter; however, the accused is not entitled to a lawyer in the room during the presentation of evidence and certainly not during the Grand Jury's deliberation. The accused may request to be heard by the Grand Jury,but defense attorneys must wait outside. A helpful link to find a good outline of how a Federal Grand Jury works can be found at the University of Dayton's website entitled Federal Grand Juries.

A second purpose of a Federal Grand Jury is to serve as an investigative tool of the United States Department of Justice. Local United States Attorneys, as well as Justice Department prosecutors based in Washington, D.C., can utilize the Grand Jury process to conduct investigations of complex "white collar" crimes involving public corruption, Federal Mortgage Fraud (involving Federal agencies such as HUD or FHA or VA), as well as Mail Fraud, Money Laundering, Bank Fraud, and Conspiracy. A Federal Grand Jury has broad subpoena powers to compel the production of documents such as bank records, corporate records, ledgers, computer hard drives, and other materials in addition to live witnesses. The Government can extend the life of the Grand Jury if necessary to complete a lengthy investigation. Some of the cases in which I was involved lasted over two years. Sometimes prosecutors find it necessary to empanel a brand new Grand Jury and then present testimony in summary form from the last Grand Jury, in order to keep the investigation going forward after the term of the previous Grand Jury has expired.

Any individual who receives a subpoena from a Federal Grand Jury should contact an experienced Federal Criminal Defense Attorney immediately.

Federal Mortgage Fraud ranges from deliberate overstatement of income by borrowers in order to qualify for larger mortgage loans, to complex schemes by multiple parties to defraud lenders of large amounts of cash. These indictments involve borrowers, lenders, appraisers, real estate brokers, loan brokers, bankers, and, yes, even attorneys.

Mortgage Fraud Rings will use a "straw borrower" with a good credit report together with an appraiser to overstate the value of the mortgaged property, along with a participating property owner and a dishonest attorney to prepare duplicate sets of HUD closing documents. Some of these complex white collar frauds can go on for a number of years and involve many different parties. For example, a recent case in California has resulted in a guilty plea by a mortgage company loan officer to lying under oath to a Federal Grand Jury in connection with a mortgage fraud investigation extending from 2001 to 2006. In that case, the loan officer had lied about taking over $100,000 from a mortgage broker to process fraudulent loan applications referred by the broker.

Some Federal Districts have been prosecuting cases involving multiple loans taken out by a buyer or buyers for the same house at the same time. After funding, the buyer often leaves the country with the money. This practice is often referred to as "Shotgunnning".

"Cash Back" schemes are another method of mortgage fraud where a buyer and seller or buyer and real estate agent conspire to deceive the lender as to the sale price of the mortgaged property, and then the buyer gets a cash kickback which of course is not disclosed to the lender.

Federal Mortgage Fraud cases can also involve failure to disclose liabilities and overstatement of income by mortgage applicants. These type cases can insnare the unwary applicant who might lack any criminal intent, but who might find himself the subject of a Federal Indictment because of a "puffed up" financial statement or a sloppy or inflated Mortgage application.

All of the Federal Judicial Districts in Texas have a number of these cases on their dockets, and the FBI is busily investigating many others. They are expensive to defend, and must have proper investigation and preparation by competent white-collar defense attorneys skilled and experienced in these areas. As is the case with all white-collar cases, a good lawyer should be contacted as soon as an individual thinks he or she may be a target of such an investigation.

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The other decision, Kimbrough v. United States, returned at the same time, overturned a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals' reversal of the sentencing District Judge's departure from the Guidelines based on his disagreement with the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses. Justice Ruth Ginsberg reasoned that since Congress had not blocked recently amended guidelines lowering the penalty for crack cocaine, then judges should also have discretion to depart from the Guidelines themselves, and that it was not unreasonable for them to do so.

To add more to the mix, on Tuesday the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to make retroactive their previous decision to lower the guideline sentences on crack cocaine offenders. This means that more than 19, 500 Federal prisoners will be free to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.

I think these decisions will result in an increase in the ability of sentencing U.S. District Judges to sentence according to their own take on the entire set of facts before them; that is, the Guidelines will be but a single factor, and the judge can take many more factors into consideration in sentencing rather than blindly following the Guidelines.

One youth claims only to be along for the ride. None claim intent to kill anyone, and only one man acually shot the victim. This is very common in criminal defense cases. It is entirely possible that no one, even the shooter, expected a death to result from this home burglary. Nevertheless, they were in somone's home in the middle of the night without the owner's knowledge or consent, and whatever happens after that is on them.

It is every parent's nightmare that his or her child will be "in the wrong crowd" when something serious occurs, and will be arrested and face criminal charges as the result of another person's actions. Many highway stops result in multiple charges involving only a small amount of drugs found in a car occupied by three or four young people, all of whom are charged. Many times all the evidence has to show is knowledge that the drugs were there. This can be proven by direct evidence, or circumstantial evidence.

In Federal Court, powerful Conspiracy laws can bring in many defendants, some of whom don't even know each other and have no idea of another person's participation in the conspiracy. A single "overt act", on the part of an individual can bring him or her to Federal Court facing many months or years in prison.

(Expand more on degrees of criminal responsibility.) How they may be charged.

This is hardly the first time Judge Keller has turned a mean eye on fairness; she is already infamous for ignoring DNA evidence in cases which showed conclusively that the defendant was innocent of the crime for which he spent many years in prison. Some are now calling for her impeachment. I think this is a dim hope; the Texas Legislature must decide on such an issue, and most of these members are "law and order" types who are responsive mostly to the District Attorney and Police lobbies. Nevertheless, it is heartening to see people get involved in the process who have been silent until now.

How did we get this woman? We elected her. And she's not up for reelection until 2012.

The result of all this has been the arrest of hundreds of college students and other young people for small amounts of marijuana and small quantities of drugs from ecstasy to cocaine, and lately, methamphetamine. In Texas, these are misdemeanors or "state jail" felonies, calling for automatic probation or incarceration in short term prisons, called "state jail facilities." In my experience, very few of these stops result in seizures of major amounts of drugs or even marijuana. But it has resulted in arrest and conviction records for young people and in the erosion of constitutional rights against search and seizure. In fact, these searches have become so much a part of the highway landscape that I occasionally observe these searches while traveling. There is even a website by former Texas narcotics officer Barry Cooper devoted to those wanting to avoid these stops.

The stops usually go down like this: The Texas Department of Public Safety troopers would ask the (usually young)driver if they had any drugs in the car. The request is in the form of a statement beginning with..."it is part of my duties to intersect the movement of narcotics and money derived from narcotics...Do you have any drugs on you? Do you mind if I search your car?" Many drivers say yes, not realizing they have a right to refuse. Often the troopers would suggest that "drug dogs" would be brought in to search the car. It has become so common that people have told me their sons or daughters have been subjected to searches of their cars after being stopped for speeding on US 84 between Lubbock and I-20. Many Texas Tech students travel that highway going back to their homes in the metroplex. Such searches are often not consensual, and are coerced. Don't agree to have your car searched, even if you have nothing illegal in the car!