Yeah that costs a lot of money and if you have it you are in MUCH better shape than one of us.
My friend defended Gotti Jr. on his fourth trial and he said the feds have unlimited money to throw at cases.
Don’t know if it’s true at other levels but if it is, you do need bucks to go to trial.
What happens is the feds cherry pick targets, and (lower case) god forbid you draw an honest prosecutor. It becomes personal. Law is a ADVERSARIAL process, so by definition, the government becomes your adversary. How many of these “bribe your way into college” instances do you imagine exist? I would think thousands. Are they all going to be charged? Hahahahah. Fat chance. The government has picked these targets, hoping to stifle certain common conduct.
Another slick trick is to find a judge sympathetic to your side of the war. There is a huge space of “acceptable” judicial practice. What I mean is pick a case, any case. Now imagine that case with a judge who is sympathetic to defendant, and skews all evidentiary, jury selection, etc. calls in defendant’s favor. Imagine in contrast, hostility toward the defendant - not open hostility, but calling all the shots in the prosecutor’s favor. Chances of EITHER approach being reversed on appeal is close to zero.
In this sort of case, justice is pretty much “random,” but money, power and celebrity always talks. The rule of law is not really much different from rule of the jungle. The powerful have HUGE advantage.
One other thought. In a celebrity case, a good PR campaign can shine positive light one way, and negative the other.
Call out the prosecutor for selective prosecution. Accuse the prosecutor of personal animus. rais the issue in court of public opinion, attempt to taint the jury pool. You only need ONE juror to side with you. Just ONE.
Argue “what parent doesn’t want every advantage for their child?” I bet MILLIONS of parents help their kids cheat, one way or another. We are a fundamentally dishonest species, and no amount of law will change that.