Lane McKee

Click to enter your existing username and password or create a new account. Click to purchase an individual user subscription with your credit card. Related information Law Firms/Representation Topics Expert OpinionWhite Collar Crime DLA Piper attorneys discuss the fugitive disentitlement doctrine - when it applies, when it doesn’t, and its implications.

Credit: rudall30/Adobe Stock In criminal cases, federal prosecutors have long sought to invoke the fugitive disentitlement doctrine (the “FDD”) as a tool that permits the courts to decline to entertain a defendant’s request for relief —such as dismissal of an indictment—if they are deemed fugitives. The primary reasoning behind the doctrine is to prevent fugitives who are defying court authority in one capacity to simultaneously benefit from it in another.