Latest News

February 5, 2024 - New Resources on the Website

We are pleased to announce two new resources:  a memo explaining how to navigate this website, available here, and a newly curated trauma bibliography by David Freedman, available here

In the first Biden administration authorization, Attorney General Garland has authorized a capital prosecution against Payton Gendron in the 2022 Buffalo shooting case (WDNY).  The NOI was filed on January 12, 2024, and is available here.

The Capital Resource Counsel Project seeks to hire an experienced Mitigation Specialist to serve as the Federal Capital Trial Mitigation Coordinator.

The 2023 Little FDPA Book is available electronically here. Contact Resource Counsel to obtain a hard copy.  

The University of Michigan Law School has a new, publicly available database of briefs, motions, and transcripts focused on social science research and data.  Access to the database is available here:  Data for Defenders

2023 Federal Death Penalty Strategy Session (Virtual)
Registration is now open for the 2023 virtual Strategy Session, which will be presented online for the federal capital defense community on November 2, 2023 from noon to 3:15 pm EST and November 3, 2023 from noon to 3:45 pm EST.The FDPRCP Annual Strategy Session is an opportunity to learn about legal and practice developments in the federal capital landscape. The program is designed for federal capital defense trial and appellate practitioners.

TRIAL MANUAL 8 FOR THE DEFENSE OF CRIMINAL CASES

by Anthony G. Amsterdam and Randy Hertz

The Trial Manual 8 for the Defense of Criminal Cases is a guidebook for criminal defense lawyers at the trial level. It covers the information a defense attorney has to know, and the strategic factors s/he should consider, at each of the stages of the criminal trial process. It is organized for easy access by practitioners who need ideas and information quickly in order to jump-start their work at any given stage.

August 11, 2023 - Strategy Session 2023

2023 Federal Death Penalty Strategy Session
In consideration of the current concerns surrounding FY 2024 funding, the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Projects' Annual Strategy Session will be virtual this year. We are still working out the timing and logistics. Please keep November 1-3 available, from noon - 4:30 Eastern Standard Time. We will let you know as soon as we have additional information.

Click here to read the Review of Capital Punishment in 2022-2023, the death penalty chapter in the forthcoming ABA publication, The State of Criminal Justice 2023. 

The 2023 edition of Defending a Federal Criminal Case has been issued and Chapter 36, The Federal Death Penalty (Stevens and Trimble) is available on our website here. The complete book can be ordered here.