Learn about important developments and topics in capital case litigation:
Evidence Essentials Every Capital Case Lawyer Needs to Know
- the latest court decisions in this area
-Crawford and Bruton issues
-Social Media
-Rule 404(b)
-Hearsay and mitigation issues
Capital Case Conundrums
Identify and analyze certain dilemmas, from practical, legal and ethical perspectives:
-Problem clients: how to deal with the client who balks at mitigation investigation, or who refuses to accept advice toward a plea or a defense involving a lesser charge
-Dealing with the judge: what vexes judges and a discussion of how to be responsive to the judge while still protecting the client, the case and the record
-Jury issues: from voir dire to penalty closing, what do jurors expect; how are they best selected; Batson and issues of a diverse jury
-Challenges with opposing counsel: if you are a prosecutor, what do you do with defense counsel who is ill-prepared? if you are defense counsel, what do you do with a prosecutor who won't talk about a resolution short of a death sentence?
Recorded live in October 2018.
The credits offered by this course count toward the CLE requirement of Criminal Procedure Rule 801, for appointment as defense counsel in a capital case.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The CLE Board indicates that you can earn all 18 of your capital case credits by distance education. However, for the general Pennsylvania CLE requirement of 12 credits per compliance year, only 6 can be earned by distance education per compliance year.