Establishing Innocence or Guilt

Overview

This annual program explores why wrongful convictions occur and what can be done to prevent them. It is designed to provide practical insights to those who are at the heart of the criminal justice system. The first two days of the program (Feb. 17-18) will address eye witness identification, DNA and bite-mark evidence, interrogations and false confessions, snitch testimony, ethics and cognitive bias. This session will include a mock trial featuring eye-witness and police investigator testimony followed by discussions in breakout groups. The third day Regional DNA Training (Feb. 19) will focus on recent developments in DNA mixture testing and the implications for the justice system.  It will include:

• A review of DNA Basics
• DNA Mixture Evidence - What are the limitations of DNA mixture testing?
• What is this new way of viewing DNA results - Probabilistic Genotyping

The discussion will include case studies and group breakout sessions. This session will satisfy any CLE requirement for the appointment of habeas cases related to DNA mixtures.

This program is funded by a grant from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Agenda and Faculty

Wednesday, February 17

8:00 am

Registration

9:00 am

Overview on Actual Innocence

• Inger Chandler, Conviction Integrity Unit Chief, Harris Co. District Attorney’s Office, Houston, Texas

9:15 am

Why the REID Technique?

• Joseph Buckley, President, John E. Reid & Associates, Chicago, Illinois

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Cognitive Dissonance and Bias

• Daniel Murrie, Professor, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia

12:15 pm

Lunch (provided)

12:45 pm

A Case of Innocence (Lunch Presentation)

• Baylor Wortham, Beaumont, Texas

1:15 pm

Break

1:30 pm

Richard Miles Case Study

Moderator: Russell Wilson, Law Office of Russell Wilson II, Dallas, Texas

• Richard Miles, Exoneree
• Cheryl Wattley, Professor, UNT Dallas College of Law, Dallas, Texas
• Michael Ware, Executive Director, The Innocence Project of Texas, Law Office of Michael Ware, Fort Worth, Texas

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 pm

Report on the Innocence Project of Texas

• Michael Ware, Executive Director, The Innocence Project of Texas, Law Office of Michael Ware, Fort Worth, Texas

3:30 pm

Wrongful Convictions and Actual Innocence: Scope of the Problem

• Inger Chandler, Conviction Integrity Unit Chief, Harris Co. District Attorney’s Office, Houston, Texas

4:30 pm

Conviction Integrity Unit Update

• Dawn Boswell, Assistant District Attorney, Conviction Integrity Unit at Tarrant Co. Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Fort Worth, Texas
• • Jay Brandon, Assistant District Attorney, Bexar Co. District Attorney’s Office, San Antonio, Texas
• Inger Chandler, Conviction Integrity Unit Chief, Harris Co. District Attorney’s Office, Houston, Texas
• Patricia Cummings, Conviction Integrity Unit Chief, Dallas Co. District Attorney’s Office, Dallas, Texas

5:15 pm

Recess

Thursday, February 18

9:00 am

Texas Case Law Update

• Gary Udashen, Sorrels, Udashen & Anton, Dallas, Texas

9:45 am

Break

10:00 am

Mock Trial – Eyewitness identifications and expert testimony

• Nancy K. Steblay, Professor, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Jeff Davis, Sergeant, Arlington Police Department, Arlington, Texas
• Jules Epstein, Professor, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Gary Udashen, Sorrels, Udashen & Anton, Dallas, Texas
• Bill Wirskye, Chief of Special Prosecution Unit, Colling Co. District Attorney’s Office, McKinney, Texas

12:00 pm

Lunch (provided)

12:30 pm

Mock Trial (continued)

2:15 pm

Break

2:25 pm

Police Interrogations and False Confessions

• Richard Leo, Professor, University of San Francisco School of Law, San Francisco, California

3:55 P.M. BREAK

4:00 pm

Bite-marks and Ethics: Understanding the limits of science and the ethical obligations arising therefrom

• Lynn Robitaille Garcia, General Counsel, Texas Forensic Science Commission, Austin, Texas
• Julie Lesser, Assistant Public Defender, Dallas County Public Defender’s Office, Dallas, Texas
• Jules Epstein, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

5:15 pm

Recess

Friday, February 19
Regional DNA Training*

8:00 am

Registration and Sign-In

9:00 am

DNA Evidence refresher – What It Is and What It Isn’t

• Christina Capt, Forensic Unit Technical Leader, University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, Fort Worth, Texas
• Cassie Johnson, Forensic Supervisor and Technical Leader – Biology Unit, Fort Worth Police Department Crime Lab, Fort Worth, Texas

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

The Current Issues with DNA Mixture Evidence

• Bruce Budowle, Professor, Executive Director of Institute of Applied Genetics, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas
• Lynn Robitaille Garcia, General Counsel, Texas Forensic Science Commission, Austin, Texas

12:00 pm

Lunch (provided)

1:30 pm

Probabilistic Genotyping

• Michael Coble, Forensic Biologist, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Rockne Harmon, Forensic/Cold Case Consultant, Alameda, California

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 pm

Break-out Sessions

• Prosecutors and Law Enforcement Officers
• Defense Lawyers

4:30 pm

Adjourn

*This session will satisfy any CLE requirement for the appointment of habeas cases related to DNA mixtures.

CLE Credits

MCLE Credit (Feb 17-18)

The State Bar of Texas has approved this program for a total of 14.25 hours, including 1 hour of ethics. Course ID Number: 901344297.

In addition to Texas, after the program (if requested) CAIL will directly apply for course accreditation in the following states, as long as course materials and evaluations are not required: California, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through attorney self-submission in other states, as long as course materials and evaluations are not required to be submitted.

MCLE Credit (Feb 19)

The State Bar of Texas has approved this program for a total of 5.5 hours, no ethics. Course ID Number: 901344299.

In addition to Texas, after the program (if requested) CAIL will directly apply for course accreditation in the following states, as long as course materials and evaluations are not required: California, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through attorney self-submission in other states, as long as course materials and evaluations are not required to be submitted.

TCOLE Credit

Law enforcement personnel attending all three days of this course are eligible for twenty-two (22) hours of Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) credit.

Overnight Accommodations

Hyatt Place Dallas/Plano
3100 Dallas Parkway
Plano, Texas 75093
Tel: 972.378.3997

Group Rate: ROH $95.00
Group rate is valid on: 02/15/16 – 02/19/16

Book online at dallasplano.place.hyatt.com

• Type in Arrival/Departure Dates
• Select the Offers and Gift Certificates Option
• In the second field titled Corporate or Group Code enter: G-AL07

OR

Call us at: 972-378-3997

• Provide Arrival and Departure dates
• Ask for Group: CAILAW – Actual Innocence

Please make reservations by January 31, 2016.

Reservations received after this date are not guaranteed availability and will be booked at the hotel’s best available rate. All cancellations must be received by 02/07/16 to avoid cancellation fee of one night’s room & tax.

Other Information

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