Miami criminal defense attorney Howard Srebnick won a U.S. Supreme Court victory Wednesday when the court ruled 5-3 that criminal defendants are allowed to use untainted assets to pay for the lawyer of their choice.

The Black, Srebnick, Kornspan & Stumpf partner, who represented Sila Luis in a health care fraud case, persuaded the majority that the federal government should be barred from freezing funds that aren’t tied to an alleged crime.