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Advanced Legal Writing: Innocence Project Seminar
Prof. Stephanie Roberts Hartung,
3 credits day; 3 credits evening.
Will provide an opportunity for students to improve their legal research and writing skills while
doing pro bono case work for the New England Innocence Project (NEIP). The Innocence
Project is a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through
DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The broad
focus of this course is on the potential for wrongful convictions in the American criminal justice
system. In particular, we will discuss whether the criminal justice system results in significant
numbers of individuals wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit. In doing so, we will
study selected topics in criminal procedure including methods of police investigation,
interrogation and identification of suspects, and post-conviction procedures for challenging
criminal convictions. This course will be structured around work on an active NEIP case. This
work will involve reviewing extensive court documents including police reports, trial transcripts,
witness statements and other investigative and scientific reports relating to the case. It may also
involve conducting additional investigation, if necessary. Our class will work as a team to
evaluate the strength of the innocence claims and each student will ultimately write a motion for
a new trial
Enrollment is limited: 15
Elective Course
Meets Skills Menu Requirement
Meets Civil Litigation Concentration Requirements
May Fulfill Legal Writing Requirement
Final Paper Required