NDAA Summer Conference Special Trainings

Steven D. Dillingham, Ph.D., LL.M.

The NDAA summer conference is always a premier event for local prosecutors, bringing together hundreds of prosecutors from across America. This year, the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) and the National College of District Attorneys (NCDA) will team together to provide practical training on critical issues for participating prosecutors, at the NDAA Summer Conference in Snowmass, Colorado, from July 20 - 23, 2003. Two training tracks will be offered during the NDAA conference. One track will focus on management topics, the other on special topics.

Improving the Quality of Life in Your Community. APRI training sessions will address specialized topics devoted to promoting community safety. Michael Kuykendall, director, National Center for Community Prosecution, Bill Ritter, district attorney, Denver, and Amy Klobucher, district attorney, Minneapolis, will overview community prosecution during the past decade. They will cover the core elements: how neighborhood-based prosecution works; creative strategies; office organizational issues; and benefits to the prosecutor, police department and community. The session will emphasize the role of the prosecutor as a leader in public safety. The discussion will include the importance of performance measures and evaluation in establishing the effectiveness of community prosecution practices, as well as ways to sustain and institutionalize community prosecution.

Combating Gun Violence: Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Initiative. PSN, the administration’s anti-gun violence initiative, is now over two years old. David Hicks, commonwealth’s attorney for the City of Richmond, Virginia, will discuss Project Exile’s current state of affairs—specifically, lessons learned and problems that loom ahead. Bill Gibbons, district attorney general for Shelby County (Memphis), Tennessee, will discuss the successes enjoyed by his program in its first year and a half. Michael Kuykendall, director of APRI’s Community Gun Violence Prosecution Program, will moderate the discussion and will highlight promising practices around the country.

Prosecuting Impaired Driving Cases. The biggest complaint from traffic safety advocates is that district attorneys often assign their newest, least experienced prosecutors to handle impaired driving cases. There is an understandable reason: many of the most experienced prosecutors are prosecuting homicides, violent crime and drug trafficking cases. This session, Prosecuting Impaired Driving Cases: Policy and Practices, moderated by John Bobo, director, APRI National Traffic Law Center, examines prosecution challenges and guidance for less experienced prosecutors, as well as showcasing best practices. Amy Bain, assistant training attorney for the City of Phoenix Prosecutor’s Office, will demonstrate an impaired driving PowerPoint program. This trial template provides new prosecutors with a powerful visual tool.

Drug Prosecution, Prevention and Treatment. A national priority is to break the link between drug use and crime, yet the brunt of the drug war is felt most by state and local governments, which process more than 98 percent of America’s drug cases. Many prosecutors have turned to innovative practices in their jurisdictions to play a larger role in the prosecution, prevention and treatment of substance abuse. This session, moderated by John Bobo, will discuss promising strategies and practices, including the national strategy of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The session will showcase best practices by Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes’s Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) program, which stresses treatment with accountability.

Prosecution Performance Measures. Success in the justice system has often been measured exclusively in terms of crime rates, conviction rates and recidivism rates. However, these measures alone do not adequately address day-to-day prosecution performance, the fair administration of justice or the interests of victims and the community. Prosecution Performance Measures, moderated by Elaine Nugent, director, APRI’s Office of Research and Evaluation, will focus on the recent work of a prosecution study group on establishing measurable goals and objectives for prosecution and illustrative performance measures. The study group will present a framework for measuring prosecution performance and identifying practical uses by prosecutors.

Guiding Principles for Juvenile Justice. Caren Harp, director, APRI’s National Juvenile Justice Prosecution Center, will present an innovative, consensus philosophy for juvenile justice, complete with clearly defined goals and accompanying benchmark measures, to help practitioners gauge juvenile justice system performance. The U.S. Congress recently earmarked funding for APRI to test these principles in practice. The possible implications for practitioners across America will be explored.

Defending Child Forensic Interviews. A workshop will be presented by Victor Vieth, director, APRI’s National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, to teach participants about the research often used in court to attack investigative interviews of child abuse victims. Students will learn the strengths and weaknesses of the research and will receive concrete suggestions for responding to courtroom attacks premised on research and experience.

Prosecuting On-line Crimes Against Children. This session will be moderated by Allison Turkel, senior attorney, APRI’s National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, and will discuss the complexities of investigating and prosecuting on-line crimes against children. Students will explore the prosecutor’s role in this process, as well as the trends in the law and in technology that are germane to these prosecutions.

Evidence-Based Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases. This session will be moderated by Teresa Scalzo, program manager, APRI’s Violence Against Women Program. The discussion will address the question asked most often by domestic violence prosecutors: What do I do when my victim refuses to cooperate or recants? The presenter will discuss investigative and prosecutorial techniques for successful evidence based prosecutions. The barriers to successful domestic violence prosecutions will be identified, and both long- and short-term solutions for overcoming those barriers will be offered.

Identity Theft Developments. Sean Morgan, program manager, APRI’s White Collar Crime Program, will discuss current trends in identity theft, investigative and prosecutorial issues associated with combating identity theft scams and resources for victims and law enforcement. Some of the trends of note are the close association between many identity theft scams and narcotics distribution rings. Identity theft perpetrated through “dumpster-diving” or mail theft is frequently being used to finance narcotics distribution. Another trend is the perpetration of identity theft through unauthorized accessing of computer databases committed by “hacking” into the database or through an “insider’s” access to the database. The use of “card skimmers” and “false front” Web sites to steal credit card information is also increasing. Finally, it is important to note that identity theft is a crime, not simply a civil matter. Some of the resources available to assist law enforcement awareness and investigation are the US Secret Service’s Identity Theft CD-ROM, which contains a roll call video and hyperlinks to law enforcement resources. Another resource is the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel database. This database can be mined for complaint information and provides victim counseling as well. Finally, victim assistance is a major consideration in identity theft. Many victims have their good names and credit ratings ruined by this crime, and are only able to repair the injury through hours of phone calls and letter writing. Providing victims with information about assistance resources and their rights can go a long way to ensuring that a victim does not become “re-victimized” by the process of restoring his or her good name.

DNA Evidence and Technology. This session will be moderated by Lisa Kreeger, program manager, APRI’s DNA Forensics Program. Throughout the United States, forensic DNA typing enhances prosecution of crime by facilitating case resolution, extending or resurrecting old cases, preventing improper incarceration and enhancing public confidence. Today, forensic DNA evidence is included regularly in investigations, trial, sentencing and post-conviction attacks. Soon, as scientists advance the sensitivity and discrimination of DNA tests, and secure needed resources to perform tests, the frequency and variety of criminal prosecutions in which forensic DNA evidence is used will increase dramatically. Prosecutors require comprehensive instruction regarding the current legal issues involving DNA evidence in order to realize its full potential to solve crimes and maintain integrity of convictions. The presentation will address the basic science and statistics of DNA typing, current DNA related trends and successful prosecutorial strategies of proactive use of DNA evidence.

In sum, the substantive agendas of NDAA’s trainings by APRI and NCDA should entice many NDAA members and their staffs to come to this exciting conference to take advantage of a unique learning opportunity that will benefit participants for years to come. For more information, visit the Summer Conference section of the NDAA Web site.