LAW 785 - Innocence Project Clinic II

Spring only 3 Frederick Gerson Prerequisite(s): LAW 747 AND LAW 309 OR LAW 309T OR LAW 308 AND LAW 309

Students in the Innocence Project Clinic II will continue to work on cases assigned in the Innocence Project Clinic I, engaging in more in-depth investigative activities, post-conviction remedies and procedures, and in-class simulations relating to inmate claims of actual innocence. Building on the foundation laid in Innocence Project Clinic I, the in-class portion will focus on client and case specific theories of innocence, and will include skills development in interviewing witnesses, handling ethical issues, organizing investigative tasks, and digesting transcripts, among others. The class is designed such that students will act as intake investigators to determine whether representation of a prisoner’s claim of innocence should be undertaken. The work entails understanding core legal concepts relating to criminal trials, reading transcripts, performing legal analysis, and investigating cases in order to determine whether an inmate has a claim worth pursuing. Prerequisites: Innocence Project Clinic I