A major federal drug case is getting under way in Memphis today. News reports about the start of action points to the reality that there has been a lot of jockeying on both sides of the legal table -- evidence of just how important the process is for developing a strategic defense.

The start of the trial has been put off at least once, if not several times in the past few months. One reason for this may be because federal prosecutors have been working to leverage the cooperation of the man for whom the two defendants in this federal drug charges trial are alleged to have worked.

The case in question is the prosecution of Martin Lewis and Clinton Lewis. The two men face allegations of drug conspiracy, racketeering, and murder-for-hire in connection with an alleged drug ring with ties to Mexican drug dealers. Jury selection is beginning today amid very tight security. Court officials have indicated that the trial will last about four weeks and feature testimony of perhaps 100 witnesses.

There is some hint that some of that testimony could come from admitted drug ring leader, Craig Petties. Petties has been incarcerated since 2008 after being arrested by Mexican officials and shipped back to the United States. Authorities say he had been operating the drug ring's actions from the safety of Mexico since 2002.

Petties pleaded guilty to 19 charges during a secret hearing in December 2009 but he has yet to be sentenced in that regard. That's expected to happen sometime in March, after the current trial. The suggestion in some of the news stories is that Petties could offer testimony in exchange for avoiding a possible death sentence.

From a strategic perspective, defense attorneys for Clinton Lewis have indicated in court filings that they will challenge the credibility of more than a few anticipated prosecution witnesses. They've listed 22 people they expect will be called to testify who have criminal convictions. Petties is one of them. The implication is that the past convictions of these individuals means anything they say on the stand should be subject to question.

Source: Memphis Daily News, "Major Federal Drug Trial Gets Under Way Monday," Bill Dries, Feb. 6, 2012