Former felony public defender chief Eric Davis on incorporating Trial Lawyers College methods for court victory

Send us Fan Mail Plea deals are overrated. Talk to any excellent criminal defense lawyer, and learn about the many times they have won trials that they were not sure they would win. Talk to them about the importance of being great at cross examining opposing witnesses, and how they approach cross examination (which is part of the criminal defense lawyer's ongoing telling of the defendant's persuasive story, without needing always to destroy the cross examinee and what they say on direct exami...

Send us Fan Mail Christa Pike's botched lethal injection execution attempt and Donald Trump's recent order to execute Nidal Hasan by firing squad have capital punishment front and center with the American public. Firing squad killing is visually gruesome, whereas lethal injection hides the torture suffered by the person condemned to the death chamber, except when the lethal injection gets botched, as with Christa Pike. Ms. Pike's lawyers told the authorities long ago that her narrow veins ris...

Send us Fan Mail Musical and creative genius John Coltrane was born one hundred years ago, on September 23, 2026, departing his body in 1967, when podcast host Jon Katz was four years old. Criminal defense lawyers and all trial lawyers can learn great lessons from Coltrane, including not to throw in the towel merely because your early efforts do not perform without a hitch, to hear even between the lines and to recognize the multitude of life possibilities that surround us, to remain tr...

Send us Fan Mail The Constitution's Sixth Amendment and its appellate interpretations provide for effective assistance of counsel against criminal prosecutions, regardless of the defendant's ability to pay. Virginia's public defender system delivers beneficial service, but the state's indigent defense system is broken when it comes to the significant percentage of court-appointed private-practicing lawyers, who are ordinarily paid too little to give full meaning to the Sixth Amendment, leavin...

Send us Fan Mail When Fairfax, Virginia, criminal defense lawyer Jonathan Katz first attended taijiquan sparring / sensing hands / push hands summer weekend gatherings of students of great t'ai chi ch'uan teacher Julian Chu (a prior Beat the Prosecution podcast interviewee), he met today's guest Shyh-Ching Lo, M.D. Without an ounce of ego -- as it should be -- and full of generosity in teaching and sharing, Dr. Lo has taught and reminded Jon about the importance in sensing hands of timing, se...