[mistercow]

>You can't use the proceeds of crime to fund your defense.

Sidestepping the due process issue for a moment, is that even a meaningful concept? Money is fungible. If you make $5,000 earned from your day job, and $5,000 from selling drugs, and you spend $5,000 on a car, is the money you have left drug money or honest money?

[leokun]

Well, if you were a criminal you may want to avoid mixing the two so you can pay for your defense in case you need to.

[jlgreco]

Would careful accounting actually help in practice? I don't imagine they would be all to impressed with your careful bookkeeping.

[jtbigwoo]

Criminals often employ people to keep their "legitimate" earnings separate from their criminal earnings. Whitey Bulger had lawyers and accountants working for decades to shuttle money into real estate and mundane businesses so he could keep it out of the government's hands. In Bulger's case, the government is trying to seize the money now that he's been caught and convicted, but it's not yet a sure thing that they'll get it.

[fnordfnordfnord]

So, the more sophisticated a criminal enterprise, the more likely that the defendant(s) will have a fair chance to defend themselves!