Core Office Training Programs

     The unit provides four basic progressive training programs to newly admitted assistant district attorneys (ADAs). The first program is the Orientation Training Program which includes training in professional ethics and a range of technical skills, such as interviewing witnesses, evaluating evidence to charge defendants appropriately, proper disclosure to the defense, preparing accusatory instruments, plea negotiations, making a proper record and appropriate courtroom behavior and demeanor. Forty-eight assistant district attorneys participated in initial training in 2005. This training includes lectures, and other observations of courtroom proceedings followed by discussions with faculty.

     The second program is the Misdemeanor Trial Training Program. Participants in this program are drilled in case and witness preparation and learn about all stages of a trial, from jury selection to jury charge. In 2005, this training was provided to 64 assistant district attorneys who prosecute misdemeanor charges.

     The third program is the Grand Jury Training Program. Upon assignment to the Intake Bureau or to a felony caseload in one of the specialized bureaus, ADAs attend lectures regarding grand jury practice. Forty-seven ADAs received grand jury training in 2005.

     The fourth program is the Felony Trial Training Program. This program combines lecture, demonstration, discussion and performance workshops to help build trial preparation skills and courtroom technique and to guide participants through the difficult process of trying a felony case. Each participant utilizes an actual trial folder which infuses the exercise with an extraordinary degree of realism. In 2005, the unit provided training in felony trial advocacy to 30 assistant district attorneys assigned to felony caseloads.

Other Office Training Programs

Special Topics Training Programs
     In addition to these initial programs, the Litigation Training Unit conducts additional continuing legal education programs. These programs are selected based on input from bureau chiefs and are designed to reflect current needs and developing trends in prosecution. These programs address general legal topics and are designed for all attorneys, both newly admitted and experienced.

     Nineteen programs were offered in 2005: Medical Aspects of Elder Crime Cases; Legal Jeopardy; DNA Data Bank; Surety Hearings; Post-Judgment Proceedings; Introduction to Financial Investigations; The Wrong Man: A Case Study in Mistaken Identity; NY Court of Appeals 2004 Criminal Law Round-UP; Mental Illness and Community Supervision - The Things They Didn’t Teach in Law School; CSI Bronx - The NYPD Lab; Persuasive Prosecution - The Visual Trial; Prosecuting the DWI Case; Human Trafficking - Basic Tools for an Effective Response; The Role of Victim Impact Statements in Parole Board Decisions; Best Practices in Working with Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual Crime Victims; The Trial Story - Effective Opening Statements; Motion Practice (Level I); Suppression Hearings (Level I); and Cult Awareness.

The Co-Counsel Program
     Close supervision is particularly beneficial when assistant district attorneys start trying low-level felony cases and when they "graduate" to trying homicides. Therefore, the Bronx District Attorney has developed a "second-seat" (or "co-counsel") policy that requires a "junior" assistant, one trying his or her first case (or first homicide) in any felony trial bureau, to first sit as "co-counsel" through a veteran prosecutor's trial. A veteran will then sit as co-counsel for the junior assistant trying his or her first case. If a particular junior assistant requires further second-seating, it will be provided. Some "junior" assistants are actually veterans trying their first homicide case, and the increased level of difficulty makes the assignment of a veteran homicide prosecutor as co-counsel appropriate.

Police Recruit Training
     In 2004, as in years past, the District Attorney personally lectured to all new police recruits assigned to Bronx County. This lecture was supplemented by presentations at the Police Academy by seasoned assistant district attorneys. To prepare police recruits for courtroom testimony, the unit presented periodic lectures and workshops on effective presentation of evidence in the courtroom.

Joint Training Program with the NYPD
     The BXDA/NYPD Joint Training Program is a monthly program conducted in the Litigation Training Unit of the Office of the Bronx District Attorney. The faculty is comprised of experienced attorneys and NYPD training personnel designated to teach specific topics. During each session approximately 30 uniformed members of the New York City Police Department are trained together with approximately ten assistant district attorneys and detective investigators.

     The experience level of the police and attorneys vary. There are usually two patrol officers per precinct and two Bronx Task Force officers, plus officers from specialized units and a Precinct Training Sergeant. The attorneys are from various prosecution bureaus and usually have one to two-and- one-half years of experience.

     The purpose of the program is to educate and promote an open discussion on criminal law and procedural issues and to keep communication open between the two law enforcement agencies. This will help both agencies serve the public and the criminal justice system.

     The basic core of program topics is (1) New York Law, including search and seizure, identification evidence and statement evidence, (2) Police Perspectives (3) Complaint Room Dismissals, (4) Domestic Violence Issues and (5) Case Preparation and Presentation.

External Training Programs

     The New York State District Attorneys Association's Training Committee, in conjunction with the New York State Prosecutors Training Institute (NYPTI), conducts their annual Metropolitan Regional Training Program on topics that prosecutors throughout New York State have identified as essential to the training of assistant district attorneys. Prosecutors from every county in New York State are invited to attend this program. In 2005, thirty-two assistant district attorneys from this Office attended. NYPTI also sponsored: The Fight on Terrorism - State & Local Law Enforcement Protecting America; DWI Trial Advocacy; Trends in Homicide Prosecutions; Crimes Against Revenue; Trial Advocacy in a DV/Sexual Assault/Homicide Case; Shaken Baby Syndrome Under Attack; Lethal Weapon - Advanced Trial Advocacy Course; and Stalking Laws and Intervention.

     Assistant district attorneys also attend the NYPTI Summer College for District Attorneys at Syracuse University College of Law where various continuing education courses are offered. The courses offered in 2005 included: New Perspective on Prosecuting Domestic Violence; NYS Children’s Task Force Forensic Interviewing Best Practices; Homicide Forensics in a Post - SCI World; Homicide Life Before a Jury; Combating Auto Crime and Insurance Fraud; Bullet Proof Convictions & Special Litigation; and Bringing Unsolved Cases Out of the Cold - Legal and Practical Issues that Arise in Cold Case Prosecutions. A total of 24 assistant district attorneys attended these courses in 2005.

     Assistant district attorneys also served as instructors in various courses conducted by NYPTI.

     Other conferences attended by support and legal staff in 2005 included: Protecting Children Online for Prosecutors (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children); Drug Prosecution and Prevention Program (APRI); Gun Violence Prosecution Initiatives (APRI); 9th Annual Domestic Violence Conference (Fordham University School of Law); Third National Sexual Assault Response Team Training Conference (SART); Practical and Ethical Issues in Representing Animal Shelters and Animal Welfare Organizations (NY State Bar Association); Implementing and Maintaining Community Gun Violence Prosecution Initiatives (APRI); Domestic Violence (APRI); Immigration and Customs Enforcement Training Conference; Combating Gun Violence - The Fundamentals of Firearms Prosecution (APRI); 10th Annual Anti-Money Laundering Conference (American Express); 11th Annual Violent Gang Information Sharing Conference (MAGLOCLEN); Transient Criminal Groups & Trends, Rissnet Systems & Human Trafficking Training Conference (MAGLOCLEN); Medical Examiner’s Office (NY County D.A.’s Office); Enhancing Coordinated Community Responses to Battering (US Dept. of Justice); Meeting Challenges in Prosecution and Victim Advocacy (NCDA - California); 15th Annual National Conference on Domestic Violence (NCDA - Nevada); and Illegal Drugs - New Problems, New Solutions for Prosecutors (NDAA - Maryland).

     In 2005, assistant district attorneys also attended conferences hosted by the National College of District Attorneys (NCDA) and its National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Assistant district attorneys enrolled or served as instructors in various courses at the College.