For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4 - 48

The Hyde Amendment - A Seldom
Used, Seldom Granted But
Powerful Tool
ny criminal defense lawyer knows all too well how
an indictment permanently and negatively changes
a defendant's life and the lives of his or her family.
Obtaining a dismissal or an acquittal is always an event to
celebrate. However, after the celebration is over, clients must
move on, and, many times, they must start completely over.
Attorneys' fees and litigation expenses are likely to cause serious
financial injury to a client. Fortunately, there is a remedy defense
counsel can pursue after the exoneration of a client-a motion
for attorneys' fees under the Hyde Amendment. Although this
motion is infrequently granted, defense counsel nevertheless
should consider filing a Hyde Amendment motion where the
prosecution acts in bad faith or insists on pursuing a position
that is clearly wrong.
A
48 For The Defense l Vol. 7, Issue 4
Enacted in 1998 and codified as a note at 18 U.S.C. § 3306A,
the Hyde Amendment permits the court to award prevailing
criminal defendants with reasonable attorneys' fees and other
litigation expenses against the government where it finds that
the government's position was " vexatious, frivolous, or in bad
faith, unless the court finds that special circumstances make such
an award unjust. " 1
The purpose of the Hyde Amendment is to
" ensure that innocent people would not bankrupt themselves
defending against frivolous and bad faith prosecutions. " 2
When Representative Hyde wrote the original Hyde
Amendment legislation, he addressed the type of cases that
merit the prevailing defendant's recovery of attorneys' fees
and expenses. He explained that the government's intentional
Lourdes Sanchez Ridge

For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4

Contents
For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4 - 1
For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4 - 2
For the Defense - Vol. 7, Issue 4 - Contents
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