SULLIVAN/CRIMINAL PROCEDURE/POST-TRIAL COURSE OVERVIEW AND FIRST WEEK ASSIGNMENTS/SPRING, 2014

Transcription

1 SULLIVAN/CRIMINAL PROCEDURE/POST-TRIAL COURSE OVERVIEW AND FIRST WEEK ASSIGNMENTS/SPRING, 2014 This course covers a significant range of topics in the post-trial criminal process. If you have not previously completed the course in Criminal Procedure Trial it may be that you should consider waiting to tackle this material until after you have competed Trial, or at the least, Pre-Trial. Post-trial process is controlled by the trial process and if you have not had exposure to criminal trials, or completed Lawyering Skills II, you may find yourself having difficulty with the concepts discussed in class. There will be no reading assignment for the first, and possibly, second weeks of class. I will be lecturing and offering general overviews of the judicial system and post-trial process the first week and the investigation and prosecution phases of the criminal process during the second week. Because of this, you may not actually have a feel for how I teach or the course is structured until after the normal period for dropping/adding has passed. Consequently, I am including general policies in this material so that you can more fairly evaluate your options in this regard. For the first class you will write and turn in hard copy the autobiography described in the following paragraphs. Faculty This course will be taught by Tom Sullivan, Professor of Law, UALR, with possible guest lecturers on discrete topics during this term. I have trial, appellate and post-conviction experience in criminal cases, including capital murder jury trials and post-conviction actions, and civil trial and appellate practice experience. I am licensed to practice in Texas (1976), New Mexico (1982), Colorado (1987) and Arkansas (2006) and have taught Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure/Trial and Post-Trial, Trial Advocacy, Law and Psychiatry and Film and Criminal Law for over twenty-five years at UALR. Autobiography and class seating Each student must write a short autobiography of about one page. Include information about yourself that you are comfortable in disclosing. I am interested in knowing about your interest in criminal practice, including courses you have taken, clerking experience, ultimate job preferences, and anything else that may

2 have caused you to think about criminal practice as a professional option, such as novels, TV shows, films, experience with members of your family who may practice law or other lawyers. You may have taken this course because it fits into your schedule well, of course, and that does not disqualify you from getting something out of the class. You may want to write about hobbies, family, pets or anything else important to you. I am always interested in knowing where you did your undergraduate work and advanced study, if any, including your major course of study and prior work experience. Please sit so that you can see the overhead projection screen, hear me and are comfortable. I request that you pick a seat by the second class where you intend to be during the entire term and I will pass out a seating chart. This will help me to learn your name. Laptop and electronic device usage You may use laptops in class unless this practice becomes disturbing or irritating to me. I often walk around the room and check who is looking at the course materials and taking notes and who is watching a movie. I find the easiest way to discourage this is simply to require all laptops closed once I detect unapproved use of a laptop by someone during class. Do not risk the animus of your classmates by violating the rule. Attendance policy The class is scheduled to meet for one hour on Tuesday evenings and two hours on Thursday evenings. You may miss up to four total classes without excuse. If you exceed four absences without obtaining permission, based upon illness or some exceptional circumstance, you will be dropped from the course or suffer a reduction in grade at my discretion. After five absences, you will be dropped from the course unless excused because of hospitalization or serious illness. You may appeal my decisions in this respect, of course, and I have been overruled in the past I will cancel class in the event of an emergency on my part or dangerous weather conditions. You should check your regularly for class assignments, responses to questions posed by members of the class, and cancelations. Please be on time to class. I understand that there will be times when you will be late due to necessity, or must leave class early. You may choose a seat that puts you closer to the door in the event of the latter. If you come in late, you may sit in

3 the back row of the class. Also, if you are ill, please sit on the back row to avoid spreading the disease to everyone else. Course objectives and teaching methodology This course is designed to provide a comprehensive view of the criminal post-trial process. I begin the course with lectures on the federalized criminal justice system and the trial process. We will then cover a significant range of subjects: the motion for new trial; direct appeal in state and federal courts; advising the client on taking an appeal; effective assistance of counsel in the appellate process; preservation of error and disposition of claims on direct appeal; standards of review on appeal; harmless error analysis; opinions and rehearing petitions; independent and adequate state law grounds for disposition; review of federal constitutional claims by certiorari in the United States Supreme Court; retroactive application of new rules of constitutional criminal procedure; state post-conviction remedies and coram nobis; scope of jurisdictions in federal habeas corpus actions; procedural limitations on federal habeas actions; certiorari review and successive petitions; applications for stay of execution; and executive clemency. The course includes discussion of federal constitutional provisions, limited state constitutional cases, leading decisions, federal and state statutory materials and federal and state rules of criminal appellate procedure. It will include review of preservation of error and procedural default. I will lecture extensively in this course and may create problems for class discussion that will focus on concepts covered during the lectures and readings. I also anticipate showing films and having outside speakers address the class on particular aspects of practice during the term. Course materials There is no text for this course. All course materials will be posted on TWEN and available to you without charge. You are expected to use TWEN regularly for checking assignments and communications involving matters to be covered in class. I will post materials supporting my lectures on TWEN in advance of class. These will be removed following class and you will be responsible for printing or downloading these materials and keeping them available for your review at the end of the course and, perhaps, on into practice. Along with notes from my lectures, I

4 may also post problems with assigned readings that address the issues raised in various topics to be covered in the lectures. For some problems, perhaps most, I will also provide edited versions of the reading materials that will include statutory provisions, procedural rules and cases. I routinely use a color-coding system designed to help you understand what I consider to be significant in the statute or case. For statutory materials, I typically highlight significant provisions in yellow. For cases, I use the following scheme: Grading Yellow indicates significant facts or case history. Green indicates the holding of the court. Turquoise is used to highlight significant legal argument relied on by the court. Burgundy highlights arguments that I think are interesting or important, but which failed to convince the court. Blue text, rather than highlighting, is black-letter law or boilerplate routinely used by the court in explaining a rule or principle of law. Red, or bright orange, highlights a passage I thought was either outrageous or particularly significant, but not part of the court s reasoning, and usually shows up in a dissenting opinion. There will be a multiple choice format final exam in this course. Course grading will conform to the mandatory grading curve in place at the Law School. University Disability Policy Students with Disabilities: It is the policy and practice of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have a documented disability (or need to have a disability documented), and need an accommodation, please contact Associate Dean Epps as soon as possible. At the law school the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs coordinates accommodations for disabilities. In order to receive accommodations - such as extended time on exams or recording of class periods -

5 students must contact the UALR Disability Resource Center (DRC) at (V/TTY) or (VP). The DRC is located in the Donaghey Student Center, room 103. For more information, visit the DRC website at ualr.edu/disability or contact the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at