LAW 7665 - Practice Foundation Criminal Litigation

Prerequisite, LAW 7301. This course exposes students to the mechanics of criminal litigation. Students will study the stages of the criminal process from charging through sentencing. There will also be instruction in advanced legal writing techniques and students will produce written briefs of the type frequently filed in trial courts in criminal litigation. The course will heavily emphasize California practice and procedure, although there will be some consideration of competing approaches taken in other jurisdictions. Students will learn primarily through simulated exercises in which students will act as lawyers litigating the various stages of a criminal case. Grading will be based on performance in the simulated exercises as well as on several written exercises. This course is strongly recommended for students interested in practicing criminal law. Students in this course need not have taken Evidence or Trial Practice. Prerequisite: Criminal Procedure: Police Practices. This course is a core requirement for the Criminal Law Certificate. Students are required to take either Practice Foundations-Civil, Practice Foundations-Criminal Litigation, or Practice Foundations-Transactions prior to graduation. Students who take a second Practice Foundations course may use it to satisfy the practice-oriented writing requirement, or the experiential course requirement, but not both. Letter grade. 3 credits