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Pennsylvania Innocence Project Practicum
Class Term:
Fall Term 2016-2017
Catalog Number:
5572
Class Number:
30363
Professor(s):
Professor
Practicum
Credits:
3 (2 Contact, 0 Field)
Graduation Requirements:
Professional Skills
Experiential Learning
Priority:
General Enrollment Course
Full Year Course:
No
Category:
Standard Courses
Additional Information
This course meets Thursdays 6-7:40 at 110 Tribone Center, Duquesne University. Students are expected to work on their assigned cases for an additional 10 hours per week, to be arranged with the instructor. Students are asked to attend a clinic/practicum boot camp on August 20. Contact the instructor for details.
Grading Details
No exam. The course will be graded S/U based upon course participation, professionalism, and completion of any assignments. Students will present and discuss their cases during the seminar.
Description
The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is offered by Pitt and Duquesne law schools, and meets at Duquesne School of Law. A 2-hour weekly seminar will examine and discuss the substantive law and remedies associated with wrongful convictions. Topics include mistaken eyewitness identification, “junk” forensic science, forensic DNA testing, and post-conviction remedies. Students are expected to spend 10 additional hours per week on their cases. This practicum will give students exposure to post-conviction collateral litigation, ethics in criminal law – both defense and prosecution – and factual analysis training. Students may work on wrongful conviction cases and clemency cases. Students will develop lawyering skills in the context of factual analysis, and will develop creative legal arguments to aid the convicted innocent. They will explore criminal justice issues related to these fields. Students will apply their substantive knowledge to actual cases by reviewing and investigating claims of actual innocence. Students are assigned their own cases to review for factual innocence claims. They are expected to review the entire case – discovery, transcripts, motions, appeals, court opinions – to determine whether the inmate presents a colorable claim of innocence. They may be involved in factual investigation including identifying potential witnesses locating physical evidence to be subjected to forensic testing, and identifying potential expert witnesses.