Prosecuting Defendants in Bankruptcy

This post summarizes an unusual point of law that recently caught me by surprise, and it's one which I don't believe we've ever directly covered on the criminal law blog before: the impact of bankruptcy on criminal charges. After reading that introduction, I know some of you may be tempted to skip this one, but bear with me -- whether you're prosecuting or defending, and whether it's a complex felony embezzlement case or a simple misdemeanor failure to return rental property, this could potentially be a pretty big deal. (Alternatively, if that's not enough to hook you, please click through anyway to see a personal announcement at the end of this post.) Need to Know Basis: At some point, surely, I was taught the basics of bankruptcy law. A bar exam prep session, at least...? I can't be certain of that, but I am certain that if I ever did learn about it, that information promptly fled to the back of my mind as soon as I began practicing criminal law in state court. And why wouldn't it? Bankruptcy is a separate civil proceeding involving federal law, and it takes place in a different set of courts. Any potential impact that process might have on a misdemeanor larceny charge working its way through criminal district court seemed pretty minimal. Most of the time that will be true, but not always. The Rule and the Exception: Criminal practitioners who occasionally work in civil practice (or who were better students in law school) [...]