ACCR/PDAP Capital Case Series

PDAP partners with the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR) to offer a bimonthly training series for 801 CLE credits. These trainings are intended for anyone who handles capital cases, including Public Defender attorneys, SWIM staff (Social Workers & social service advocates, Investigators, Mitigators), and support staff.

The sessions are designed to give comprehensive overviews of specific aspects of capital defense. Past sessions have covered topics like:

• Trauma Informed Practices – participants gained tools for representing their clients from the perspective of clients and child advocates from the Support Center for Child Advocates
• Litigating Coerced Confessions – representatives from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project introduced tools for litigation confession cases through all stages of a case, including a summary of relevant social science on coercive police interrogation, strategies for strengthening suppression arguments, and ways to raise novel post-conviction claims
• Discovery Practice in Capital Cases – the training covered general concepts surrounding capital case discovery, such as processes around aggravators, mitigation, victim impact and reciprocal discovery

Future topics include Intellectual Disability (March) and Women’s Mental Health in Capital Cases – Pregnancy, Postpartum, and Other Reproductive Issues (May). For information about past and upcoming trainings, visit our events calendar or view ACCR’s website here.