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3/20/08
TV Ad Disqualifies Gableman
PRESS RELEASE
March 21, 2008
For further information:
Attorney Kirk Obear, President
920-565-4225
or
Peter McKeever
Executive Director
608-223-1275
Gableman’s Television Advertisement Disqualifies Him for Supreme Court
The Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL) is committed to promoting the proper administration of criminal justice, fostering and maintaining the integrity, independence and expertise of the defense lawyer in criminal cases, and encouraging an unyielding concern for the protection of individual rights and due process. Our organization does not endorse any political candidate, and refrains from taking a position on any political issue that is not directly related to the criminal justice system or the criminal defense function.
In that context we are obliged to respond to the television ad sponsored by Judge Gableman’s campaign which attacks Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler’s role as defense counsel years ago. The implication of the ad is that since Justice Butler effectively represented the interests of a criminal defendant in the past, we should consider him to be a friend of crime and therefore an enemy of justice. WACDL believes that Judge Gableman’s ad is an unwarranted attack on the important role that criminal defense lawyers serve in our system.
The integrity of our criminal justice system relies upon vigorous representation of the parties on both sides of a case. This is the nature of the adversarial process and it has long been recognized that a proper decision on a legal issue can best be achieved by considering two sides of a dispute. In the context of criminal cases, a defense attorney stands in a unique position to protect the rights of those accused of crimes. These are rights guaranteed to all of us by the law. When an issue is decided in favor of a defendant, it cannot be interpreted as a failure of the system. Rather, it is affirmation that our rights as citizens are intact and must continue to be respected. Indeed, convictions and sentences of dangerous criminals could not be achieved at all if not for the active role of the defense.
Judge Gableman’s recent campaign ad is an attack on the criminal defense function in our society which our organization does not take lightly. There are certainly times when the general public may need to be reminded that our constitutional and statutory rights are designed to protect the freedoms that we all enjoy. A supreme court justice’s role should be to view a criminal case objectively, and such a person should have the ability to make a difficult and potentially unpopular decision if it is the legally correct one.
This recent ad is evidence that Judge Gableman will not be able to fulfill this role and it is our position that he is unqualified.
1/18/08
NACDL Annual Meeting to be Held In Milwaukee
NACDL Annual Meeting In Milwaukee July 30-August 2, 2008.
Click HERE for more information.
1/18/08
Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
PRESENTS
How Can I Defend This??? – Children as Victims
The Hard Cases Involving Kids That Every Defense Lawyer Dreads
A Two Day Seminar Exclusively for Criminal Defense Lawyers
Live: Thursday and Friday, March 13 and 14, 2008
Location: Country Springs Hotel and Conference Center
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Registration form will is posted here .
About the Program
We all recall hearing in law school our professors and supervising attorneys warn us that every lawyer will get a case that when they first read it through you say, “my guy is so guilty” and shake your head in defeat, knowing the prosecutor and the media will portray your client as a perverted monster who victimizes defenseless children. Even the most seasoned defense lawyer has seen these moments. This seminar will be an in-depth look at defending two of the most difficult and frustrating kinds of cases involving children as victims, child porn cases and shaken baby/abuse cases.
Day 1: Defending Cases Involving Kids and Sex: Kiddy Porn to Enticement
Attorney Dean Boland, from Lakewood, Ohio, opens the day with a dynamic presentation on how to defend child porn and enticement cases at the federal and state level. His presentation begins with how our clients’ become noticed by the governmental radar, execution of the search warrants, pretrial motions and other important discovery issues, to the experts and science behind the imagery evidence and attacking at trial.
Federal defenders, Krista Halla-Valdes and Gabriel Plotkin will present on important sentencing issues that affect our clients and SONAR (Sex Offender Need Assessment Rating) Registry, constitutional and other legal challenges to SONAR prosecutions, and how to defend against federal “failure to register” charges.
Investigator Steven Odenthal will present an in depth look at the new technology and new virtual crime scenes, online chat websites like MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook, all peer-to-peer sharing sites. He will explain how they work, who is out there communicating and listening in. Similarly, he will discuss how to understand these sites to challenge the Government’s claims.
Barry Widera and Jo Reis from Court Data Technologies will be presenting and demonstrating how CourtTracker, a web-based criminal case research tool that uses the information that synthesizes CCAP information to show how similar cases receive different (sometimes significantly different) dispositions and sentencing results, based on factors like the county, the judge, the prosecutor.
Day 2: Defending Cases Where Kids Get Hurt: Shaken Baby and Abuse
Attorney Donna Kuchler begins with an A-Z description of how to defend Shaken Baby and Abused Baby cases. Her presentation will begin with a thorough analysis of what every attorney should immediately do when confronted with a case like this. She will discuss how to properly investigate these cases and will provide insight into the competing literature in this field. Medical experts are highly relevant and critical to these cases. The presentation will discuss the types of experts that are needed, their fees, and what they can do for the defense. Donna will present on how to properly prepare for direct and cross-examination of the medical experts.
Pediatric Nurse/Paralegal consultant Debra Botticelli will speak about the importance of using a nurse as a defense expert to review, organize and decipher the medical records.
Dr. John Plunkett, Regina, MN, will discuss child head injury allegations. As a world-renowned expert, Dr. Plunkett has testified in hundreds of trials involving alleged abuse and shaking. Dr. Plunkett was one of the experts brought into the United Kingdom to review potential false convictions for shaken baby. As a pathologist, Dr. Plunkett will stress the importance of having a thorough medical review of all of the evidence.
We end with a presentation by long-time criminal defense attorney Waring Fincke, West Bend, on what to do at sentencing, a presentation on how to be creative and paint your client in the best light to minimize the sentence.
We will be applying for 16 CLE credits for the two days, 8.4 for March 13 and 7.8 for March 14.
4/15/05
WELCOME TO THE NEW WACDL.COM
Welcome to the new WACDL web site.
We hope this site is useful for criminal defense lawyers in Wisconsin. We have tried to make it more accessible and easier to use for members of the public seeking a criminal defense lawyer or information and for WACDL members.
Some of the changes:
* A new, more colorful and cleaner design and logo.
* The “Find a Lawyer” directory is updated:
• We list more categories of criminal law practice.
• It is easier for potential clients to search for a lawyer.
• WACDL members can now edit their own contact information: firm name, address, telephone number, email address, etc. This will insure that the information in "Find a Lawyer" is current and up to date - you and your staff will make the changes when necessary.
• We have added a place where members can put a short paragraph (100 words) describing their practice.
Speak a foreign language? You can now add that to your personal information, and potential clients looking for an attorney who speaks their native language can search for an attorney by language.
We will be able to post late news and updates on the front page: legislative developments, new case law, news and gossip.
It is easier for prospective members to find the membership application (which will be soon updated).
We are working to make the brief bank “more electronic” since most of our current materials are available only in hard copy.
Note that this website is still very much a work in progress and under construction. You will find that some links have not been activated; we are still adding information, documents and links. Over the next few weeks, we hope to get more useful information on the web site.
What would you like to see on the WACDL web site? What links? What materials? What information? Send your comments and suggestions to info@wacdl.com.
If you find an error, have questions, or suffer a cyberspace misadventure while using the web site, let us know.
You can search our member database to find a lawyer who can help you with your case.
Feel free to send any member e-mail. However, you are advised that the act of sending such e-mail or downloading information from this website does not alone create an attorney-client relationship. Your electronic mail will not be privileged and may be disclosed to other persons. Remember that electronic mail on the Internet is not secure and that you should avoid including sensitive, confidential or damaging information in unencrypted messages. Before you send any of our members e-mail, understand that a lawyer cannot answer specific questions about a case unless the lawyer is hired to represent a person charged in the case and is licensed to practice in the jurisdiction where the case is pending. Our lawyer members cannot and do not give legal advice over the Internet. This website is not intended to be advertising and we do not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based upon viewing this website in a state where this website fails to comply with all laws and ethical rules of that state. This site is meant to be informational only, consistent with the legal profession's obligation to educate the public.