Another brief has been filed in support of the defendants in the KPMG case.   This amici brief is filed jointly by the New York Council of Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In the Amici’s Statement of Interest one finds the following language:

"The NYCDL and NACDL are vitally interested in the issues before this Court. It is a central premise of the Sixth Amendment that an individual is entitled to counsel in facing serious charges presented by the Government. The ability of an accused to subject the prosecution’s proof to adversarial testing by skilled counsel is the very hallmark of a free society, providing the essential safeguard that permits the government to zealously prosecute cases secure in the knowledge that any verdict that is subsequently obtained is both procedurally and substantively fair under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. In this case, the prosecution does not assert an interest in ensuring the most skilled counsel to test its proof, but the opposite: it has acted to stack the adversarial deck to weaken the hand of the defense in order to strengthen its own. That interest is anathema to the founding principles of this society and should not be sanctioned by this Court."

The brief can be found here – Download us_v. Stein brief -Amici.pdf