Notes from the National College

Highlights of Accomplishments

By Amie L. Clifford, Assistant Director of Programs and Director of National Center for Prosecution Ethics

This year has been a challenging, but successful one for the National College of District Attorneys as the education division of the National District Attorneys Association. The following is a review of some of its major highlights.

National Advocacy Center

The U.S. Department of Justice has not disbursed any funds to NDAA to support courses conducted at the National Advocacy Center since October 1, 2006. As a result, the association spent its own funds to continue the provision of training for state and local prosecutors. From October 1 through June 30, NDAA operated under the same procedures as when the center was fully funded by DOJ—costs associated with travel, hotel rooms and meals incurred by all those attending training at the center, were free for students and faculty alike. All these costs were covered by NDAA. However, beginning with the Trial Advocacy I Course offered the week of July 9, the association had no choice but to ask those coming to the center—faculty and students alike—to cover their own costs associated with travel and meals (NDAA is continuing to cover the costs of the hotel rooms at the center). This choice was not a quick or easy decision to make, but one that had to be made to preserve the financial soundness of the association. The support from prosecution offices across the country has been tremendous resulting in our ability to offer the same high quality training that prosecutors have come to expect from the National College.

In the past two months, the association has submitted two grant applications to the Department of Justice to secure fiscal year 2007 funding for training at the National Advocacy Center. Many members of the association have been asked to contact their congressional representatives to secure support for future funding. Their cooperation and assistance has been overwhelming, and it will be instrumental in securing the financial commitment necessary to continue the invaluable training that has been offered by the association at the NAC since 1998.

National Courses

The National College also continues to offer high quality, substantive training for prosecutors across the country. This year the college introduced two new courses, “Experts” and “Contemporary Trial Issues.”

“Experts,” which was held this past spring, offered prosecutors the opportunity to not only learn about specific areas of forensic science, but also the means by which the science can be fully utilized. Focusing on preparation for expert testimony, making the science interesting and manageable for the fact-finder, and anticipating attacks against either the science or the scientist, the college provided practical applications for the prosecutor, expert and investigator.

“Contemporary Trial Issues” will address current topics arising in the trial of criminal cases. It will combine substantive information on those topics with advice and instruction on how to present evidence concerning them in a persuasive, effective manner. Issues that may be addressed at the upcoming course in October include eyewitness identification, recanting and intimidated witnesses, and recent court decisions. Techniques for making compelling arguments to the court and jury, as well as for the presentation of evidence needed to make those arguments will also be addressed.

National Center for Prosecution Ethics

The staff of the National Center for Prosecution Ethics, a project of the National College of District Attorneys, has continued to research appellate, disciplinary and ethics advisory opinions from across the country. This research is used to create educational materials on ethics and professionalism, to update the topical indexes on the research pages of the center’s Web site (www.ethicsforprosecutors.com), and to respond to requests for assistance from prosecutors.

One change has been made to the center’s Web site. While most of the site is available to the public, access to some portions is restricted to “members only.” Effective July 1, 2007, access is available only to those persons who are members of the National District Attorneys Association and who are employed as prosecutors, either full-time or part-time, who have no connections to or involvement with the representation of or giving of advice to persons or entities charged with or suspected of committing crimes. This change was made to provide access as a membership privilege for association members. The restricted access portion of the Web site includes a forum where prosecutors can post questions related to ethics and professionalism.

Capital Litigation Resource Center

As part of its Capital Litigation Improvement Initiative, NDAA created the Capital Litigation Resource Center in 2006 to provide technical and research assistance to prosecutors in those states that have the death penalty. This center is housed and staffed out of the college’s offices in Columbia, South Carolina.

The staff of the center is serving as a remote loader for an interactive database maintained by the New York Prosecutors Training Institute (NYPTI) that allows for the sharing of research and pleadings prepared by prosecutors in capital cases. Information is either forwarded to center staff by state and local prosecutors or the center’s staff locates and converts information to usable form. Staff then uploads the information (i.e., short summaries of written arguments made by prosecutors in capital cases along with the relevant portion of the brief or pleading) into a topical index on the database for easy recovery and use. It is anticipated that the database will continue to grow and eventually contain thousands of arguments that have proven successful for prosecutors.

Publications

The National College is continuing its tradition of regularly adding to its substantive catalogue of publications. At the end of June, the college released the second edition of Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Guide to Ethics and Civil Liability. The new edition provides a more in-depth review of many of the ethical issues facing prosecutors that were covered in the first edition, such as those that arise when dealing with the news media; conducting cross-examination; communicating with defendants, witnesses, judges and jurors; providing discovery; making a closing argument; responding to allegations of misconduct; and facing potential civil liability. Also included in the second edition are some new issues such as those surrounding the disciplinary process and supervisory responsibility in a prosecutor’s office.

Coming out later this summer will be Managing Prosecutors. This new publication, which will complement Office Administration and Management, also published by the college, was developed to assist supervising prosecutors in their resolution of the day-to-day managerial issues. It is divided into four sections: Leadership, Running the Office, Office Relations, and Law & Logistics and will present its readers with the tools to effectively and efficiently manage a prosecutor’s office.