According to the

law of the United States The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

, a person receives a target letter when a U.S. attorney has "substantial evidence linking him or her to the commission of a crime". The same legal technique may be used by county prosecutors in some jurisdictions. In 2005, the ''New York Times'' described target letters this way: "The U.S. attorney's manual bars prosecutors from taking witnesses before a grand jury if there is a possibility of future criminal charges unless the witnesses are notified in advance that their grand jury testimony can be used against them in a later indictment." Law professor Randal Lee, a former judge and prosecutor, has said "A target letter is simply a courtesy letter given by the federal government informing you that you're a suspect in a criminal investigation." Former

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the District of New Jersey Mitchell Epner has said that a target letter may be used by a prosecutor to induce a target of their investigation to

flip Flip, FLIP, or flips may refer to: People * Flip (nickname), a list of people * Lil' Flip (born 1981), American rapper * Flip Simmons, Australian actor and musician * Flip Wilson, American comedian Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * ...

, meaning to cooperate with the prosecution. Epner said, "Ordinarily, the reason that prosecutors send a target letter is to see if people want to come in to cooperate before they get charged."

References

{{Reflist American legal terminology Letters (message)