Ethics and Indigent Defense

Quality Indigent Defense – for vulnerable populations

Education and Research

• Involuntary Psychotropic Medication to Competence: No Longer an Easy Sell, 12 Mich. St. J. L. & Medicine 1 (2008) (Trial courts’ increasing reluctance to order involuntary medication to establish competence to stand trial following Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166 (2003))
• The Growing Admissibility of Expert Testimony by Clinical Social Workers on Competence to Stand Trial, 53 Social Work 153 (National Association of Social Workers) (No. 2, Apr. 2008) (Advocating LICSW, if properly trained, should be qualified to testify as experts concerning a defendant’s competence to stand trial)
• Psychoactive Medication and Your Client: Better Living and (Maybe) Better Law Through Chemistry, 27 Champion 22  (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) (Dec. 2003) (Advocacy opportunities and challenges for criminal defense lawyers arising from Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166 (2003))
• Old Law Meets New Medicine: Revisiting Involuntary Psychotropic Medication of the Criminal Defendant, 2001 WISCONSIN LAW REVIEW 307 (Updating legal framework concerning involuntary medication with new information from mental health professionals)
• Law Enforcement Interviews of Hospital Patients: A Conundrum for Clinicians, 295 J. Am. Med. Ass'n 822 (No. 7, Feb. 15, 2006)

Training

• "Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement Interviews of Hospital Patients," New York University Child Study Center Grand Rounds, New York, NY (1/07). [Powerpoint presentation]
• The Increasingly Paradoxical Nature of Lengthy Juvenile Sentences, at Law & Psychiatry Seminar, University of Massachusetts Medical School (Worcester, MA) (October 29, 2008). [Powerpoint Presentation]

Documenting consequences of inadequate funding

• Patrick’s Radical Attack on CPCS a Fast-Track to Disaster, Mass. Lawyers Weekly (Feb. 10 2011)
• Justice on the Cheap, 49 Boston Bar J. 10  (No. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2005)

Ensure highest practitioner ethics for zealous defense and special responsibility of prosecutors

Education and Research

• The Role of Trial Counsel in Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims: Three Questions to Keep in Mind, 33 The Champion 14 (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) (Feb. 2009) (Describes how to ensure effective representation before, during, and after attorney-client relationship)
• The Ethical Obligations of Prosecutors in Post-Conviction Claims of Innocence, at Annual Conference, National Innocence Network (San Diego, CA) (January 19, 2002).  [Powerpoint presentation]
• My Reputation or Your Liberty (or Your Life): The Ethical Obligations of Trial Counsel in Post Conviction Proceedings, 23 J. Legal Prof. 85  (1998-99) (Describes trial counsel’s responsibilities when his or her own work is challenged after a conviction)
• Ethics: One Case, One Client, at Team Defense: The Basics & Beyond, Tennessee Public Defenders Capital Division (Nashville, TN) (April 27, 2002). [Powerpoint]
• Post-Conviction Use of DNA Evidence in Federal Court: Individual Cases and Beyond [PowerPoint], at Cutting Edge Issues in Federal Criminal Law and Practice, Federal Bar Association (Boston, MA) (July 26, 2002) [PDF]

Training

• "Legal and Judicial Ethics for Criminal Practice in US," presented to Afghan Defense Lawyers’ Program for the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, Cambridge, MA (February 25, 2010). [PDF] [PPT]
• "Trial Skills: Openings & Closings; Cross-Examination," Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Inc., Boston, MA (4/08)
• "Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement Interviews of Hospital Patients," New York University Child Study Center Grand Rounds, New York, NY (1/07)
• "Reputation, Obligation, and Loyalty: The Defense Role in 23-110 Proceedings," Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (Criminal Practice Institute), Washington, DC (11/06)
• "Legal Aspects of Law Enforcement Interviews of Hospital Patients, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (Annual Meeting)," Chicago, IL (10/06)
• "Crawford v. Washington: What Lies Ahead?," New England Appellate Judges’ Conference, Boston, MA (11/05), Flaschner Judicial Institute, Newton, MA (6/06)
• "Involuntary Medication to Competence: No Longer an Easy Sell," International Center for the Study of Psychiatry & Psychology (Annual Conference), Flushing, NY (10/05).