Federal court is not state court moving faster. It is a different system.
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How It Starts
A federal case begins when a grand jury returns an indictment. There is no warrant sworn out by an officer and no preliminary hearing the way there is at 201. By the time you learn you are charged, the government has usually been working the file for a long time.
That head start is the defining feature of federal practice, and it is why the early decisions matter so much.
The First Hearing
In state court a bond hearing is largely about money. In federal court it is not about money at all. The questions are whether you are a flight risk and whether the government is seeking detention.
If there is anything violent in the case, the United States Attorney’s Office will generally ask for detention. That includes possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, even where nothing happened with the gun.
If the magistrate decides you can remain out, it is usually release on recognizance or a very low cash bond, sometimes with house arrest or a monitoring device. If the magistrate decides otherwise, you are detained. There is no number that fixes it.
If you choose to have it. Many defendants waive the detention hearing instead, and there is a reason for that. Most are already in custody at the state level, so a hearing may accomplish nothing, and it can be affirmatively harmful by putting the government’s proof on the record early. That is a decision to make with counsel before the date, not at it.
The Schedule
After the detention hearing the case moves to the courtroom that will actually handle it. There is an initial report date, usually a second pretrial date, and then the judge enters a scheduling order.
That order sets the whole case: discovery due by one date, motions by another, change of plea on or before a third, and a trial date. Those deadlines are real. Asking for more time outside a genuine discovery dispute is generally not a thing, and the court expects you to be ready.
The government controls what it turns over, how it delivers it, and when sealed material becomes available. That is not how it works in state court, and it is one of the places an attorney who does not practice in federal court regularly gets caught out.
The Reality
Not because defense attorneys roll over. Because federal prosecutors cherry-pick. They seek indictments on the cases they are confident they can win, and they have built the file before anyone is charged.
Felon in possession of a firearm is the simplest of those to prove and the guidelines make it expensive. That combination is why it is charged as often as it is.
You have a right to a trial. You have a right to an appeal. Pleading guilty is not on that list. The judge has to accept the plea, you have to give an allocution on the record, and if the allocution does not satisfy the court the judge can refuse it. You also cannot change a plea without an attorney.
Negotiation with the government is usually a waste of time unless you are seeking an 11(c)(1)(C) agreement or a 5K. More on 5K and cooperation →
Where Cases Are Won
Once a plea is accepted the case is reset for roughly ninety days so a presentence report can be prepared. This is the most important document in federal practice and it is the reason the fees are what they are.
It is prepared by the Probation Office, and the thing to understand is that they are not on your side. In practice they will generally support whatever position the government takes. They are also careful about how they write down what you say, so an offhand remark about occasional marijuana use can come back in the report as a history of drug use.
The attorney objects to the facts and to the calculations. The report produces a guideline range, and that range is what the judge sentences from.
One client had a record a mile long for methamphetamine use and no violent history at all. Meth carries serious time. Probation wrote that he qualified for a downward departure, which comes from within the guidelines themselves and is a different thing from a downward variance. He received the mandatory minimum, which was still a great deal of time, but the report moved the number.
Another client was indicted on felon in possession of a firearm and picked up a cross-reference for attempted murder, meaning the guideline for the gun charge pointed at the guideline for the underlying conduct. His history was bad. The one piece of good news was that he did not qualify under the Armed Career Criminal Act, which carries a fifteen year mandatory minimum.
He received ten years, the statutory maximum, and the judge said on the record that he would have gone higher if he could.
Before the Hearing
After the objections are resolved the attorney files a position paper arguing for the lowest sentence that can reasonably be asked for under the factors at 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and sometimes for a downward variance, which is the judge going outside the guideline range entirely.
The government usually responds that whatever Probation recommended is fine.
They read the record, the presentence report, and both positions before they walk into the courtroom. Opinions rarely change at the hearing itself. Whatever is going to move the number moved in the weeks before.
Sentence is pronounced and the defendant is given an appellate packet.
What It Costs
Most firms will not publish this. Here it is.
The trial figure depends on how long the trial runs. Federal trials range from two days to two months, and that is not an exaggeration. Appeals are quoted separately, and there is room to discuss the number with someone who is serious.
Your Attorney
Patrick Barnes · Federal Criminal & Appeals
Attorney Patrick Barnes handles the firm’s federal work. He is admitted in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and he sits on the federal CJA panel.
That last one is worth a word. The CJA panel is the court’s own list of attorneys it appoints to represent defendants who cannot afford counsel. Getting on it takes vetting and real trial experience, and it means the judges in that building have already decided what they think of the work.
Memphis criminal defense → · Criminal appeals → · About Patrick Barnes →
Common Questions
With an indictment. A grand jury returns it and the case exists. There is no warrant and no preliminary hearing the way there is in state court, and by the time you know about it the government has usually been working the case for a long time.
Not the way there is in state court. There is a detention hearing, and it is not about money. It is about whether you are a flight risk and whether the government is seeking detention. If the magistrate decides you can remain out, it is usually release on recognizance or a very low cash bond, sometimes with house arrest or a monitoring device. If not, you are detained. You are not entitled to a bond. You are entitled to a detention hearing.
If there is anything violent in the case, generally yes. That includes possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, even where nothing happened with the gun.
Fast. After the initial report date and usually a second pretrial date, the judge enters a scheduling order setting deadlines for discovery, motions, change of plea, and trial. Asking for more time outside a genuine discovery dispute is generally not a thing. The court expects you to be ready.
Because federal prosecutors cherry-pick. They seek indictments on the cases they are confident they can win, and they have usually built the file before anyone is charged. Felon in possession of a firearm is the simplest of those cases to prove and the sentencing guidelines make it expensive.
Not unilaterally. You have a right to a trial and a right to an appeal. There is no right to plead guilty. The judge has to accept the plea, you have to give an allocution on the record, and if the allocution does not satisfy the court the judge can refuse it. You also cannot change a plea without an attorney.
It is prepared by the Probation Office roughly ninety days after a plea, and it produces the guideline range the judge sentences from. Probation is not on your side, and in practice will generally support whatever position the government takes. They are also careful about how they write down what you say, so an offhand remark about occasional marijuana use can come back as a history of drug use. The attorney's job is to object to the facts and to the calculations before that range is fixed. This is where federal cases are won and lost.
A departure comes from within the sentencing guidelines themselves, and Probation can recommend one. A variance is the judge going outside the guideline range under the factors at 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a), which the defense argues for in a position paper before sentencing.
Enormously, and violence in the history does the most damage. A record of drug use is survivable. A record of violence is what kills most sentencing hearings. If the Armed Career Criminal Act applies, the mandatory minimum is fifteen years.
At this firm it is $10,000 to start and another $10,000 sixty days later. If the case goes to trial there is an additional $10,000, and that figure depends on how long the trial runs, because federal trials range from two days to two months. Appeals are quoted separately. The second payment is not a formality. If paying the first fee empties every resource you have and there is no way to make the second, the case will not be taken, or counsel will withdraw later.
Free consultation. Call before the detention hearing, not after.