Transcript
[Automated prison phone message: “This call is from Karl Bell, an inmate at a federal prison.”]
Hi, my name is Karl Bell. I was represented by Brandon Sample. I've been knowing him for maybe close to a year now. One thing I can say about Brandon is he's not the typical everyday lawyer. When I say that, I mean a lawyer who's just there for the money. We are all aware that no lawyer took this trade just to do it for free. But when you have a lawyer who's not only just out for his client's best interest, but he's for the Constitution, you have a lawyer then. Because now you have a lawyer who's not so much set on that one client, but it pertains to making sure that, hey, one day this could be me. So he wants to be aware of the Constitution. And when you have a lawyer who fights for the Constitution, he's fighting for everybody, because injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
And he has honestly represented me. He did a great job on me. I went through several other lawyers, starting from pretrial all the way to this time here, which is eighteen and a half years later, and this is the first guy I can actually say that I really, honestly believe was really a lawyer. Someone who is living the oath that they made when they first became a lawyer. A lot of lawyers come in with that bulldog instinct, and as time goes by, it's no longer about law anymore. It's just about getting rich and building up their 401(k) or their retirement funds, and that's what it is. They feel like half of the guys who they represent, they probably deserve to be in prison anyway. But when you have a lawyer who actually wants to get to know his clients and wants to get a good feel for his client, you have a lawyer who's really concerned. And I can actually say that about Brandon, that he actually really wanted to get to know me.
It wasn't so much about him getting money, because, like he told me once, he said, "Bell, it's not about the money with you. You know, I really don't make my money off doing post-trial motions." And he represented me, and he actually showed that. He first wanted to represent me with a 2241. We went at it, and I asked him, I said, "Brandon, what do you feel my chances are with it?" He said, "Well, you know, you got a fighting chance, but I'm not gonna lie to you, Karl. You got a lot of hurdles to overcome."
So as time went by, we realized that the cases that we wanted to utilize were not retroactive, and the Fourth Circuit was not going to grant relief for me. Honestly, I asked him again. I said, "I need you to be honest with me. What do you think is going to happen with this motion?" And Brandon told me, "You know, Bell, I'll be honest with you. I don't think you're gonna win this one. You can always file the 2241. You don't have to file it right now. You don't have a time period." So I said, "Okay, we'll go with that."
And then the First Step came out in December 2018. I came to him, and there was no contract. I said, "Well, Brandon, could you honor the same fee and the same description of our contract with the 2241 and utilize that now with the First Step Act?" He said, "Bell, for you, because I really want to try to get these life sentences off of you — man, I'll honor that same deal. Whatever deal we had, we'll just keep it with that. Instead of 2241, we'll do the First Step Act. And like I told you the first time, I can't guarantee anything, but I will guarantee you this: I will fight with everything I have." And I can honestly say he did that.
He was the first lawyer that I've ever hired that actually had a one-on-one with the prosecutor — a prosecutor who was set on keeping the life sentences on me. After two or three conversations, he actually convinced her that, listen, man, let's work with him, let's give him another chance. And she went into the hearing unopposing. She didn't want to agree with the time served, but she was willing to agree that, okay, I will not oppose that he get any relief.
And he later had a district judge actually contact his office and set up a telephonic hearing, which was like — he said it was the first time he'd ever had that in his practice. And this judge here was not a typical everyday district judge. It was a judge who, whatever he said was law, was the law of the land. And I can honestly say that Brandon convinced the man to have a little leniency on his client, and instead of leaving me with two life sentences, the man agreed to give me 370 months and give me another opportunity to get out. And he actually went off of Brandon's word. He didn't care about the client. He didn't think that the defendant deserved it. But after talking to Brandon, he decided that, hey, man, listen, I'm gonna do it.
And so any guy now who's looking for counsel, man, I would recommend that he hire Brandon Sample, or at least his firm. And by hiring his firm, every case that comes through there, I'm sure that Brandon reviews all those cases, and I don't think that Brandon would allow anybody to come into his firm that he didn't think felt and dealt with the law the same way he does. He's going to diligently fight your case, and he's going to give you the best of whatever you got. And if anybody can win something for you, man, I would think Brandon Sample can do it.
And like he said, he's played poker before. He just did whatever he had to take to get what he wants. And he really believed that how he can go about making a win at every turn is basically just getting something that both of them can respect, something that the prosecutor would agree on and something that his client would agree on. That is a win. A win doesn't necessarily mean that every time you fight a case you're going to actually go home, but at least one day you will. That's a win. Especially when you have clients that have records going all the way back to they was juveniles, and the client is now 50 years old. When an attorney can get some relief for those kind of clients, that's an attorney, man, you want to put all your chips with, and you let the ball fall where it's going to fall.
And with that being said, I just hope that if anybody is listening to this and they're considering hiring any law firm, that you at least just give Brandon Sample an opportunity to review your case, which he doesn't even charge that much to do that. So if I can help anybody with assisting or getting some confidence in hiring, I hope this will suit them. And I can't say it enough, that I think that Brandon will be the best lawyer for anybody dealing with the criminal justice system.