An exciting week…
This week is an exciting week for students who are interested in criminal law. On Monday, the 22nd of September, we have criminal defense lawyer Kennet Phillipson coming to talk to us about the controversy surround the removal of Judge Nault from criminal court proceedings. This will take place from 6pm to 7pm, which makes it a great opportunity for evening students to attend a CJS event. We have been lacking in that capacity so far this year, and I apologize and plan to make up for it soon!
Also on Monday we will be holding a Murder 101 WIKI training at noon in room C-3. At this meeting students who have completed their Murder 101 Commitment Forms will be given discovery in the Sergio Reyes-Brooks case. Also, anyone who attends can participate in WIKI training. This training takes about 10 minutes and is required of all students interested in working on Murder 101. WIKI’s are encyclopedias of knowledge and a great way to keep track of large amounts of information culled by multiple sources. We will be using WIKIs on all our cases. This enables multiple people working on a large case to bring information together in one easy to use database. Using a WIKI is fairly simple; if you can use MS Word, you can use a WIKI. There are a few differences which is what we will be going over on Monday.
Another program we would like to start this week involves creating a webpage where criminal justice professionals can get information they need, such as rehab facilities in a particular town, or who to talk to about paying restitution, etc. This is an opportunity to work directly with criminal justice professionals all while learning valuable information that will help you to be a better attorney. Write to me at larsend2@seattleu.edu if you are interested in this opportunity.
We also have a great Take an Attorney to Dinner coming on Wednesday night with Aaron Pelley. Email Andrew Rice for more information on coming with us!
First CJS Meeting of the Year
Today is the first CJS meeting of the year. Space is tight this year and we have not been able to get a room until now. I hope a lot of you will come and see what we are about. We will do officer reports and introduce our new Murder 101 Project. Kaylynn has designed a killer logo (pun intended) that we are using on upcoming posters, et al.
On September 15th Kevin Coe (also known as the South Hill rapist) will have his civil commitment hearing. Coe was convicted of 4 counts of rape in 1980 and released a few years laters after the Washington Supreme Court ruled against the use of testimony taken by hypnotized witnesses. He was tried again and was convicted of 3 counts of rape. Somehow the use of testimony by witnesses came up again and the court overturned two of the counts and upheld one count. Coe was sentenced to 25 years in prison, which he completed in December of 2006. The prosecution moved to hold Coe in custody until a civil committment hearing could be scheduled. On September 15th the State of Washington will argue that he should be declared a sexually violent predator and confined indefinitely. To read more about this topic try this article, in which former SU law professor John Lafond is interviewed: Sex predator law stirs debate
On September 22nd the CJS is holding a debate on the Judge Nault issue. Check back next week for more details.
Here’s my funny video of the week . . .
Murder 101
Murder 101 is a new project developed by the Criminal Justice Society. This is an opportunity for law students to graduate with real world experience. Working on a murder case gives students an opportunity to work one-on-one with a Seattle-area criminal defense lawyer, experience court appearances, understand investigative processes, and write about legal issues that matter.
Murder 101 will participate in four murder cases at a time. Each case will have a student who will be the lead (a 2L or 3L) in the case; that person will pick a second student as backup on the case. Then several other students will get the opportunity to work on the case doing various projects. All students will have the opportunity to go to omnibus hearings, read the discovery, attend depositions, investigate the case, and write memos to the rest of the team. Each member of the team will have a faculty advisor, ethics advisor, research advisor, moral support guide, and case work back-up partner in order to assure an environment of quality, competency, and to reduce the stress associated with working a murder case. Check back for more information on this project or email me if you are interested in participating.
I am currently working as a legal intern on a murder case that is coming up for trial in a few weeks. In June of this year I emailed a criminal defense attorney who lives about a mile from my house. I told him I was pretty sure I was worthless to him as someone who just finished their first year of law school, but that I’d make copies, type memos, or sweep the floor if I could hang out at his office this summer and observe his defense style. He called me back within five minutes of my email and told me he had taken a second-degree murder case pro-bono. The case is about a 17-year-old who killed a man who had been molesting and stalking him since he was 13-years-old. To read more about the case, click here. If you are interested in watching the case at the courthouse, check back here, and I will post when the trial starts.
Other opportunities that are cropping up are a training to be held at SU School of Law to train law students to help adults seal their juvenile records. If you are interested in attending the training join the CJS TWEN page, click on forums and add your name by replying to my post on the topic.
Hands up, who misses James Dold? James abandoned us to attend the University of Maryland Law School. It was one of his dreams to attend UM, and I’m happy he gets to fulfill that dream, but I still miss the guy. Speaking of other schools, check out the two videos below. While 1L’s might not ‘get’ many of the jokes yet, check back at year’s end and rewatch them. For the rest of you, yes, they are long, but worth every minute, I swear.
I’m not saying our school is boring, unimaginative, or stuffy, but how awesome is this performance by faculty and students at the Virginia School of Law? I looked them up on Wikipedia and found they have putting this show on since 1904.
Wikipedia says: Each spring over a hundred students write, direct and perform in The Libel Show, a comedy and musical theatre production that was first organized in 1904. Its performers roast Law School professors, student stereotypes and life in Charlottesville throughout each of its three nightly showings. Professors write and sing their response to the students’ jokes at the penultimate performance.