Pretrial Criminal Lit Bootcamp

Catalog description

This course hopes to teach students three critical skills required for pretrial advocacy in criminal litigation: information gathering; drafting motions; and arguing motions.  The course will focus on the five matters (and related motions) most commonly encountered in the interval between arrest and trial: (1) bail; (2) discovery; (3) “similar acts”/FRE 404B evidence; (4) motions to dismiss; and (5) motions to suppress evidence.  Students in the course will be divided into two groups – a prosecution track, and a defense track – and will be expected to learn what information is necessary for each motion; to research and write each motion; and then to argue their motion (or opposition) each day.  In addition, students will be expected to learn to formulate a theory of the case, either prosecution, or defense, and then to make strategic decisions consistent with that theory as they move through the pretrial process.  The course is designed to occupy the territory between classroom theory and trial practice.  Training in the latter area is readily available through Tulane’s Trial Advocacy program, Tulane’s Criminal Law Clinic, and Tulane’s supervised externships at public defenders’ and prosecutors’ offices.