Stan In National Journal re: Ring Retrial?

"These retrials tend to favor the government. It's like a do-over," said Stanley Brand, a Washington lawyer with experience in bribery cases. The prosecution can adjust its arguments based on lessons learned in the first trial, he said.
However, Brand noted, the evidence "doesn't get any better for the government." The Department of Justice "wins the vast majority of the cases that it brings," he said, so a mistrial can be seen as a "victory" for the defense. And that victory -- even if it wasn't total victory -- may embolden Ring's attorneys come June.

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Stan in Roll Call re: Effects of Ring Hung Jury

Last week’s mistrial in the case of former House-aide-turned-lobbyist Kevin Ring could open the door to more defendants to challenge Justice Department public corruption indictments, legal experts say.

“It’s like a traffic violation. If you pull over a bunch of drivers and everyone else sees that, they slow down,” said Stan Brand, a criminal defense attorney and former House counsel. “If it doesn’t look as if the department can convict these cases ... it certainly encourages others to contest. It certainly makes [DOJ’s] job harder.”

U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle declared a mistrial Thursday afternoon in Ring’s public corruption trial after the jurors declared themselves unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Brand said the failure to convict Ring, who is accused of providing tickets to sporting events and other gifts to Congressional staff in exchange for assistance for clients of his then-boss, ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, could hamper other investigations by encouraging defendants to challenge indictments rather than accept plea agreements.

The recent unraveling of the case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) compounds the problem for prosecutors in public corruption cases, Brand said.

“There’s no question that the public integrity section is under duress because of the internal issues generated by the Stevens case and the Ring mistrial and everything else that’s happened,” Brand said. “How that will shake out is hard to say. It’s still the responsibility of that section of the department to investigate and bring these cases.”

(and more at the link)

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Stan in TPM Muckraker/Politico re: Ensign Inquiry

An expert consensus may be forming that the Justice Department will likely launch a criminal investigation into the philandering Nevada senator and his relationship with Doug and Cynthia Hampton.

"I don't see how they cannot look at this case," Stan Brand, a Washington lawyer and ethics specialist told Politico.

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Stan in TPM Muckraker re: Ring Hung Jury

Both Zeidenberg and Stan Brand, a Washington lawyer who has defended numerous public officials charged with corruption, also suggested that, in light of the Ring mistrial, some of the 17 lobbyists, Hill staffers, and government officials who accepted plea deals in connection with the Abramoff case may be kicking themselves. "It could certainly make some of these defendants think, maybe they should have pushed harder," Brand told TPMmuckraker.

Brand called the mistrial "a setback for Public Integrity, in a line of other setbacks" -- referring to the reversal of the conviction of former senator Ted Stevens, and the subsequent investigation into alleged prosecutorial misconduct during that case.

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Stan in Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial re: Ensign

But at this point, Sen. Ensign does not appear to have broken laws or taken personal advantage of his Senate office. His vote on behalf of Nevada's interests still carries the same weight it did a year ago.

No senator has been expelled from the body as a result of an "ethics" probe since the Civil War. Yet we're to believe Sen. Ensign should resign, running out on constituents who elected him to do the job, because of personal conduct which -- while stupid and embarrassing -- is frankly of a "line forms on the left" variety?

"The ultimate accountability is through the political process," Stan Brand, a former House counsel and expert on congressional ethics, told ABC News. "If people think the system has failed, they have the ability to make a decision at the ballot box."

In 2012.

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Stan in Legal Times Blog re Ensign

Stan Brand of the Brand Law Group, a government ethics lawyer, said that, "on the face of it, someone is going to investigate this," both the Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee as possibilities. Brand stressed that he wasn't saying that Ensign is guilty of anything, but said the allegations in the story raise the possibility of charges.

What’s the next move? "You get a very good criminal lawyer," Brand said.

It isn't clear whether Ensign has already done so, but others agree with Brand. Thomas Green, a partner at Sidley Austin, said the information in the article likely warrants an investigation, and it could go in multiple directions. “It’s not an attractive situation,” he said

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