Kaley: Defendants entitled to hearing on seizure of assets pretrial

In U.S. v. Kaley, No. 07-13010 (Aug. 18, 2009), the Court held that the district court should have held an evidentiary hearing to determine whether to lift an injunction preventing the defendants from encumbering their home in order to raise money to pay for defense counsel. Citing U.S. v. Bissell, 866 F.2d 1343 (11th Cir. 1989), the Court held that the district court should have held a hearing to weigh the suffering of the defendants from the denial of counsel of choice against the government’s interest in recovering the assets seized.