225: Why Are People Being Found Not Guilty but Still Going to Prison? w/Andrea Jaeger

Imagine for a moment, you have been accused of several crimes. At trial, you are found not guilty on all the charges except for one. Let’s say that this is least serious of all your charges. While you wish you had been acquitted on all charges, 5/6 is pretty good. You anticipate a minor sentence, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel….but then you get to sentencing, and the judge starts saying your sentence is going to be just as severe as it would have if you had been found guilty of everything. How is it possible to get found not guilty but punished anyway? Today, Hunter spoke with criminal defense attorney Andrea Jaeger to discuss how the federal legal system allows for acquitted conduct sentencing.   Guests: Andrea Jaeger, Criminal Defense Attorney, Iowa   Resources: U.S. v Watts https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-watts Coverage https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB11037 https://www.ussc.gov/about/news/press-releases/december-14-2023 https://reason.com/2023/12/20/sentencing-commission-again-proposes-restricting-judges-use-of-acquitted-conduct/ https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-durbin-introduce-bipartisan-bicameral-legislation-to-prohibit-punishment-of-acquitted-conduct     Contact Hunter Parnell:                                 Publicdefenseless@gmail.com  Instagram @PublicDefenselessPodcast Twitter                                                                 @PDefenselessPod www.publicdefenseless.com  Subscribe to the Patron www.patreon.com/PublicDefenselessPodcast  Donate on PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5KW7WMJWEXTAJ Donate on Stripe https://donate.stripe.com/7sI01tb2v3dwaM8cMN