# How often is a defense attorney the deciding factor between conviction and acquittal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-is-a-defense-attorney-the-deciding-factor-between-conviction-and-acquittal/961858>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 28, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-is-a-defense-attorney-the-deciding-factor-between-conviction-and-acquittal/961858 "2022-03-28T19:49:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2022, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-is-a-defense-attorney-the-deciding-factor-between-conviction-and-acquittal/961858/81 "2022-04-26T00:15:07Z")

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> [@Velocity](#):
>
> If the feds have unlimited resources, then wouldn’t they be best suited for tackling the high-hanging fruit that are the tough cases to solve?

I don’t know. My experience was mostly with drug cases, that could go to either federal or state court. We noticed if the case wasn’t _very_ strong, thee feds would decline prosecution and the state prosecutors would take it up. (Which in our state usually meant much more reasonable sentences). Some cases, like organized crime, are really only well suited for federal prosecution most of the time. You hear of some lower level defendants in multi-defendant trial sometimes getting off, but the main target is typically convicted.

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