The JFA Team and the Neighborhood Defender Services of Detroit will work towards increasing the use of experts and investigators by court-appointed counsel in Wayne County, Michigan.
Update (July - December 2021): We hosted seven training modiles on the use of investigators, experts, and mitigation specialists. The topics included: Theory guided, specialized investigations on cases with eye-witnesses and co-defendants, social media evidence, child witnesses; using investigators to examine crime scenes; working with experts; and using mitigation specialists. We also had breakout sessions to work on a hypothetical case problem that was designed to simulate the process of building a case through the use of an investigator. The participants were provided with access to more than 20 different pieces of case materials including police reports, scene photographs, and interview summaries to simulate a real case.
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Kristin LaVoy – Training Director at NDS
Robin Dillard – Director of PD Services
Viola King – Assigned Counsel Administrator at Office of PD Services
Dawn Vanhoek – Criminal Defense Attorney & Planning Consultant for Wayne County
Angela Peterson – Attorney Administrators for Attorney Investigator Program
Deja Vishny – Subject Matter Expert
Stakholders discussed the use of investigators and experts as well as data indicating that managed assigned counsel is not utilizing the services being provided through the Office of PD which assists in approving requests for investigators and experts.
Developed a survey to be distributed to members of the criminal defense bar to learn more about the reasons they may not utilize experts and investigators.
Contracted with Deja Vishny to develop expert/investigator curriculum for training.
First pass review of program case problem.
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