One of the most useful monetary goals in life is being able to afford US federal appeal's court. It's the only part of the system where arbiters of the law actually begin to analyze the law. There is no dog and pony show for jurors there, no instructions that a prosecutor can tell the judges and sway them.
So it wouldn't matter what a single judge thought in lower court, if you were compliant.
So it wouldn't matter what a single judge thought in lower court, if you were compliant.