Course Description
Law students work with attorneys at agencies tasked with defending individuals charged with capital offenses. This will have a classroom component where students will discuss work experiences, examine current issues in capital punishment, and evaluate the special problems which confront the attorney defending a capital case.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate law students will not be doing any extra work beyond
that required of the Juris Doctor students. J.D. students are
post-baccalaureate students and the workload expected of them
is the same workload expected of post-baccalaureate graduate
students. Law students are professional students, not
undergraduate students. Graduate law students are primarily
international lawyers seeking expertise in the American legal
system. This expertise is gained through exposure to Juris
Doctor courses.
Athena Title
Capital Assistance Project
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in JURI 5310E or JURI 7310E
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
(1) Give students practical experience in a very intense, highly specialized area of law - defense of capital cases - in which too few attorneys are available - in hopes that even if students do not practice in the area, they may volunteer their time after admission to the bar; (2) expose students to special problems encountered by attorneys in this area of law, including the unique ethical considerations; (3) provide students with sufficient knowledge and experience to effectively evaluate arguments made in specific capital cases.
Topical Outline
A brief topical outline is difficult to provide because a substantial portion of the classroom component of the course will concern: (1) specific projects on which the students are working at the time, and (2) current issues in capital punishment. However, with respect to the special concerns of the attorney engaged in defending a capital case, the course will cover the following topics at a minimum: -insanity and mental retardation as a limitation on death eligibility; - death qualification of juries and jury selection; - the penalty phase of a death penalty trial, including types of mitigation which can and should be presented; - the role of psychiatric evidence in a death penalty case; - the roles of appellate and habeas counsel; - ineffective assistance of counsel; - how the defense attorney should deal with the volunteer.