Legal Questions regarding the powers of a US Attorney / AUSA

ZachJPayne

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Okay, here's a big conglomeration of my legal questions. If anyone can take a crack at any of these, please do. My working knowledge of a US Attorney/AUSA's job is limited to Caroline Julian on BONES, and the handful of interviews and articles and papers I've been able to read.

And yes, there are pretty major spoilers for my WIP novel. Sorry about that. ;)

  • Can a US Attorney / AUSA use federal assets outside of their jurisdiction during an emergency situation? I would need this character to have access to a SWAT / CIRG team, and basically have the authority to boss them around. Would she be able to check in with the local U.S. Attorney, and perhaps have an AUSA from that district serve as a sort of attache?
  • Can a US Attorney / AUSA be retained as private counsel? Basically, this character’s daughter’s girlfriend is one of many people being rescued by the aforementioned SWAT / CIRG team. Would this character be able to represent my main character?
  • Basically, all of these girls from around the country are being sent to a religious facility to “cure” them of homosexuality by way of starvation, abuse, and corrective rape. Would this fall into Federal jurisdiction, and thus be something this character could prosecute ex officio? (United States of America v. Margaret Caine et. al. d/b/a Camp Angelfire).
  • Could these defendants claim that they’re acting under their First Amendment rights to religion, and argue that they had full release wavers from the parents of these minors, permitting them to carry out the abuse?
  • Could this US Attorney / AUSA stand in loco parentis for this girl while prosecuting her case? If she didn’t prosecute the case?
 

ironmikezero

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If you don't mind, I'll treat your bullet points as 1 thru 5...

A bit of background; US Attorneys are appointed by the President with approval of the Senate. Assistant US Attorneys are career government employees within the Dept. of Justice (civil service status, or in some cases excepted service status).

1. No... USAtty/AUSAs have no operational assets (but for the very rare exceptions of ad hoc special investigators); nor do they have the authority to command such assets of other federal agencies. They can decide the strategy and tactics of ongoing investigations and make appropriate recommendations to the agency with primary investigative jurisdiction, or petition the court to order the relevant agency to take a specific action.

2. No... Generally prohibited as a conflict of interest.

3. Possibly, depending on the circumstances... most likely as civil rights violations (see 18USC241-248).

4. Yes... There are no limits as to what a competent defense counsel might argue.

5. Possibly, if the case is civil, and would be subject to court approval. There would be no need if the case is criminal. Prosecution is at the discretion of the US Attorney.

Admittedly, this is an oversimplification of the issues raised, but it should be sufficient to set you on a course of more in depth research.

Best of Luck!
 

jclarkdawe

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Supplementing IronMike's answers:

Okay, here's a big conglomeration of my legal questions. If anyone can take a crack at any of these, please do. My working knowledge of a US Attorney/AUSA's job is limited to Caroline Julian on BONES, and the handful of interviews and articles and papers I've been able to read. BONES is one of the more inaccurate shows out there.

And yes, there are pretty major spoilers for my WIP novel. Sorry about that. ;)

  • Can a US Attorney / AUSA use federal assets outside of their jurisdiction during an emergency situation? I would need this character to have access to a SWAT / CIRG team, and basically have the authority to boss them around. Would she be able to check in with the local U.S. Attorney, and perhaps have an AUSA from that district serve as a sort of attache?
An attorney is attached to an investigation to make sure that the investigation produces legally admissible evidence. An attorney is never in charge of the operational aspects of an operation, and doesn't have the training and qualifications to do so. The attorney will be making sure that the operation remains within the law, producing legally admissible evidence leading to a conviction in court.



Although US Attorneys frequently appear in the news as being in charge, this is more to reflect political reality and public speaking ability. The Boston Marathon bombing case is a good example. If you watch the press announcements, you'll see a gradual shift in who is appearing to be in charge. Reality was that much of the work in that case was done by local law enforcement, with support from the FBI, the US Attorney, and various other federal agencies. But by the end of the press announcements, the US Attorney seems to be very much in control. And after the arrest, the US Attorney is definitely in control.


  • Can a US Attorney / AUSA be retained as private counsel? Basically, this character’s daughter’s girlfriend is one of many people being rescued by the aforementioned SWAT / CIRG team. Would this character be able to represent my main character?
No. Not without quitting. Even then, there may be ethical problems.


  • Basically, all of these girls from around the country are being sent to a religious facility to “cure” them of homosexuality by way of starvation, abuse, and corrective rape. Would this fall into Federal jurisdiction, and thus be something this character could prosecute ex officio? (United States of America v. Margaret Caine et. al. d/b/a Camp Angelfire).
Most of the crimes you're discussing are state law. For instance, other then on Federal properties, the Federal government doesn't have jurisdiction over statutory rape. Further, the Federal system does not have abuse/neglect courts and no way to deal with the custodial and care of juveniles. You might have something under the Mann Act.



Notice that the polygamy cases from Texas and Utah have been mainly prosecuted by state authorities. Especially take a look at the case involving Warren Jeffs.

  • Could these defendants claim that they’re acting under their First Amendment rights to religion, and argue that they had full release wavers from the parents of these minors, permitting them to carry out the abuse?
The defendants could claim it, and it might be partially allowed. However, the First Amendment and parental waivers do not apply to things like statutory rape, and couldn't be raised as a defense in a trial. Parental waivers are going to be very limited in this type of case, where the juveniles are presumably capable of sexual activity and older then ten years of age. A parental waiver saying you can rape my 17 year old daughter over her objection isn't going to hold much weight by either a judge or jury.


  • Could this US Attorney / AUSA stand in loco parentis for this girl while prosecuting her case? If she didn’t prosecute the case?
No. There's no procedure in Federal court, absent lands in Federal jurisdiction (such as Indian land), to appoint someone with parental rights, either in part or in total. This is part of the state court system, including the probate court and abuse/neglect proceedings.



Choice of prosecution for crimes depends upon the crime. For example, in many jurisdictions, domestic violence is at the discretion of the police/prosecutor while rape is at the discretion of the victim. The crimes here, such as the Mann Act, would be at the choice of the US Attorney to prosecute and can be done over the objection of the victim.

What you're trying to do is going to need a lot of work if you're looking to be accurate.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe