Appellate & Training Division
The Appellate and Training Division provides support to the District Attorney’s Office through its work on motions, appeals, and writs. Appellate prosecutors also serve as the legal advisor for the District Attorney's Office. The training function of the division is responsible for the coordination, development, and facilitation of quality educational programs for prosecutors that both satisfy the State Bar requirements for continuing legal education and provide for the professional development of our trial attorneys. The division also facilitates training programs for investigators and paralegals.
DDA Laura Tanney is the Division Chief, DDA Sophia Roach serves as the Assistant Division Chief and Jim Kelly is the Assistant Director of Training. In 2010, the division welcomed DDA Bryn Kirvin, who with DDA Richard Monroy, developed an office wide program to train “Ethics Advisors” and provided immediate assistance to trial deputies in matters of professionalism.
During 2010, the division’s attorneys assisted with numerous motions and briefs in the Superior Court and Court Of Appeal and responded to hundreds of inquiries from prosecutors and law enforcement officers seeking advice. Attorneys in our division provided support for many high profile cases and actively participated in the development of internal policies and procedures related to areas such as use of compelled statements in psychiatric exams, procedures for obtaining confidential juvenile records, and the implementation of new legal precedents. The Appellate and Training Division is also responsible for publishing tremendous resources for this office and prosecutors’ offices across the state, including the Autobrief authored by DDA Craig Fisher.
Significant cases and proceedings that were handled by the division include the denial of habeas relief and responses to requests for public information in several high profile murder cases including:
People v. Giminez
In a landmark ruling which may help end attacks on Shaken Baby Syndrome also known as Shaken Impact Syndrome, DDA Katy Gayle successfully defeated what purported to be a new development in scientific evidence, but was merely a sham attack on a well documented consequence of intentional shaking of infants.
People v. Gardner
In this high profile prosecution involving the brutal murder of two young girls, DDA Richard Armstrong provided significant support in answering the voluminous Public Records Act requests in order to protect the privacy of the victim’s families.
People v. Jernigan
In our ongoing mission to support trial deputies DDA Jim Atkins handled several legal responses in this cold case murder, all of which resolved in our favor.
The
District Attorney's office continues to be a state and national model with
regard to training. The division, along with all of the members of the Legal
Training Advisory Committee, devoted countless hours to the success of 71 training
programs. Semiannual, daylong trainings in February and October addressed topics
required for continuing legal education credits and other subjects relevant
to public service. We also provided legal education to local city attorneys
and child support enforcement attorneys as part of our October training. Monthly
training courses continued to be offered in order to take advantage of the
court furlough days. Presentations on Evidence, Mental Health, Immigration
Consequences and Ethics were conducted live in DA classrooms. Live stream training
sessions broadcast throughout the office on subjects such as Search and Seizure
and Non-revocable Parole were held during the latter part of the year after
the court furlough days came to an end. As usual, this year’s training calendar
also included integrated advocacy courses – New Deputy Training, Felony Trial
Advocacy and Advanced Trial Advocacy and Sexual Assault Prosecution. Finally,
every attorney in the office was given a three hour update on ethics and discovery
organized and taught by several of the division’s attorneys.
The year was also noteworthy for the contributions made by our attorneys in drafting legislation to protect the confidentiality of child autopsy reports in certain cases and successfully petitioning for review in the California Supreme Court on the issue of opinion testimony by scientific experts.
Attorneys in the division also participated in the California District Attorneys Association, serving on its Board of Directors, initiating a new committee to unify prosecutor responses to new precedent and authoring an amicus brief filed in the United States Supreme Court advocating a special needs exception to the warrant requirement for victims in child abuse cases.
