In 1992, Willie Veasy confessed to a murder, a confession a jury accepted despite a time card showing him to have been at work as a dishwasher 8 miles away. In 2001, Jermel Lewis signed a confession admitting to participating in Philadelphia’s worst mass killing – the seven homicides in what was known as the
TRIAL LAWYER by Richard Zitrin “Trial Lawyer.” That phrase is an epithet, itself a word that can mean either an honoring description or a curse or slander. For Richard Zitrin, it s a life-long calling, one nurtured in the arena of criminal law and the well of the courtroom and later improved with a parallel
The Realm of Junk Science Search the internet, and you can find links to articles and discussions of ‘lip print’ and ‘ear print’ comparison as forensic tools for identifying perpetrators. Or search U.S. decisional law, and you may find a transcript of testimony like the following: Q:…[D]o you have an opinion as to the
In December 2016, when reviewing the second edition of BASIC TRIAL ADVOCACY, I wrote the following: NITA – the National Institute for Trial Advocacy – deserves great credit for providing [advocacy lessons] in a concise, reader-friendly form in TRIAL ADVOCACY BASICS (NITA, 2016) by Molly Townes O’Brien and Gary S. Gildin. BASICS is an effective
When I reviewed POINT WELL MADE, a NIITA 2016 publication, I wrote that it is a “wonderfully succinct text of 159 pages, it is packed with insight upon insight that individually and collectively will improve motions practice. The authors have the know-how. Nancy Viadik was a trial level judge and now is on a
The information world – books, essays, online discussions and posts – is awash with discussions of the death penalty. There are “death penalty fast facts,” https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/us/death-penalty-fast-facts/index.html ; statistics https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=18 ; a museum tour https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/execution/origins-of-capital-punishment/ ; encyclopedic overviews of caselaw https://deathpenalty.procon.org/major-death-penalty-cases-in-the-us-supreme-court/ ; debates https://www.thoughtco.com/pros-cons-capital-punishment-3367815 ; policy https://policy-perspectives.org/2019/12/16/the-us-federal-government-and-capital-punishment/ ; advocacy https://www.amnestyusa.org/10-reasons-to-abolish-the-death-penalty/ ; essential information https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/ ; and
Depending upon what circle one travels in, the name “Dave Berg” may mean nothing, may link to the classic cartoons in MAD MAGAZINE, or may call to mind a stellar contemporary trial lawyer. It is the last, trial lawyer David Berg, who penned THE TRIAL LAWYER; and in doing so he crafted a book with
The words still resonate – “I don’t want a Public Defender, I want a real lawyer.” They underpinned the backhanded compliment of “hey PD, you’re good. You should go to law school.” But it has been the case for decades that a person accused of a crime – adult or juvenile – was better off
A book titled “Biased Trials” will invariably draw the attention of those who take courtroom advocacy seriously, who teach advocacy, or are driven by concerns over disparate treatment. This was a ‘moth to the candle’ attraction. But this book is more than what a trial lawyer needs. It is a study in behavioral economics, a
There are certain essential tools for learning how to best design a courtroom presentation, particularly powerpoint. Think of PRESENTATION ZEN by Garr Reynolds, a map through the art of making less do more. Reynolds taught simplicity, visuals over words, and story-telling; and in doing so inspired tributes like this one – How PRESENTATION ZEN fixed