Live webinar presented by Brandon Garrett, Anthony Monaghan, Amanda Zimmer and Sarah Olson
Feb. 3, 2022, 12:30-2 pm
90 min of CLE credit anticipated
Description:
Indigent Defense Services and the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office will offer a series of monthly webinars which prepare attorneys to challenge unreliable forensic science evidence in 702/Daubert hearings. The series will begin with an overview of the landmark 2009 National Academy of Sciences Report and the 2016 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report which make recommendations to address shortcomings of various forensic science disciplines.
The program will explain the background and findings of these reports, address how these reports have been received by the forensic science practitioners and courts, and describe steps taken in response to the reports’ recommendations.
Next, the presenters will provide a practical framework defenders can use for making 702/Daubert challenges. Presenters will give examples of how these reports have been introduced in court in NC cases and address how NC courts have responded to 702 challenges that have used these reports. Common prosecution and expert arguments regarding these reports and their recommendations will be discussed. Finally, the presenters will discuss recent research that examines how mock jurors respond to a vigorous cross-examination of an expert as compared to their response to presentation of testimony from an opposing expert.
Registration:
This program is part of the 2022 IDS Forensic Science Education Series. The webinars will be presented monthly and are free to attend. Attorneys who want CLE credit for attending will be billed $3.50 per credit hour by the State Bar. Use this link to register for all webinars in the series and attend any that are of interest.
Presenters:
Brandon Garrett, JD
Brandon Garrett is the director of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law. Garrett’s current research and teaching interests focus on evidence, forensic science, constitutional rights, habeas corpus, corporate crime, and criminal law. He is the author of six books including Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics (University of California Press, March 2021). In addition to numerous articles published in leading law reviews and scientific journals, Garrett’s work has been widely cited by courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, lower federal courts, state supreme courts, and courts in other countries. Garrett also frequently speaks about criminal justice matters before legislative and policymaking bodies, groups of practicing lawyers, law enforcement, and to local and national media. He has been involved with a number of law and science reform initiatives.
Garrett received his BA in 1997 from Yale University. He received his JD in 2001 from Columbia Law School. After graduating, he clerked for the Hon. Pierre N. Leval of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and then worked as an associate at Neufeld, Scheck & Brustin LLP in New York City.
Anthony Monaghan, JD
Anthony Monaghan is an Assistant Public Defender in Mecklenburg County. He is a Board Certified Specialist in State Criminal Law. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1994 and UNC School of Law in 1998.
Amanda Zimmer, JD
Amanda Zimmer graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law. She was in private practice in Southern Pines, NC, for almost 10 years, primarily representing criminal defendants on appeal and in post-conviction proceedings and occasionally representing defendants in trials and pleas in district and superior court. Amanda joined the Office of the Appellate Defendant as an Assistant Appellate Defender in 2016. She became OAD’s Director of Training and Outreach in 2021.
Sarah Olson, JD
Sarah Olson has served as the IDS Forensic Resource Counsel since 2010. As Forensic Resource Counsel, she assists public defenders and private appointed counsel with understanding and challenging, where appropriate, the scientific evidence in their cases. By specializing in scientific evidence, Sarah is able to improve counsel’s ability to understand complex evidence and achieve better outcomes in their cases. She shares information through individual case consults, her forensic website, and continuing legal education programs. Prior to working as Forensic Resource Counsel, Sarah was an Assistant Public Defender in Durham, NC where she represented clients in Durham’s District and Superior Courts.