National Human Trafficking Prosecution Best Practices Guide

Human trafficking is the second most profitable criminal industry behind the drug trade, estimated by the International Labor Organization to be a $150 billion industry worldwide. To better equip prosecutors to address this devastating crime, the National District Attorneys Association’s Women Prosecutors Section developed a National Human Trafficking Prosecution Best Practices Guide. The guide provides an overview of sex trafficking and labor trafficking, various state and federal trafficking laws, working with victims, the investigative process, and more. Read

Authors: PCE, NRTAC

As the demand for forensic evidence has exploded, so has the pressure on crime laboratories to keep pace with an ever-growing workload. This paper, developed by PCE’s Executive Director Kristine Hamann and St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office Chief of Trials Rachel Smith, addresses the critical question of how best to maximize the resources of a public forensic laboratory. This question is explored in three different parts, each with an emphasis on the prosecutor’s perspective:

The Problem:  According to a 2019 article from the Department of Education, over seven million (or one in six students) missed 15 or more days of school in the 2015-2016 school year. The highest rates of absenteeism occurred at the high school level, where chronically absent students also represent those most likely to drop out. Dropping out of high school has been linked to poor outcomes in adulthood, from poverty and diminished health to involvement in the criminal justice system.

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (part of the Department of Justice), the National Resource & Technical Assistance Center for Improving Law Enforcement Investigations (NRTAC) delivers training and technical assistance (TTA) to law enforcement and prosecutors on a wide range of topics that are directly related to conducting high-quality investigations. This assistance is available free of cost to eligible state and local departments and prosecutors seeking to improve investigations ranging from homicide to computer crime investigations. To learn more click here for NRTAC flyer.

Author(s): Kristine Hamann, PCE and John Delaney

Violent crime prosecutors do difficult and important work. In October 2017, fifteen seasoned violent-crime prosecutors spent a day and a half sharing their ideas about how to improve the investigation of violent crimes at a meeting sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice. Though the group had much in common, it was quickly apparent that there are a variety of approaches to their work.

An often difficult decision faced by prosecutors is whether to use evidence provided by a so-called jailhouse informant. Individuals, when incarcerated, may let their guard down with other inmates and speak freely about the crime with which they have been charged. They may also (perhaps falsely) claim to have committed some heinous act simply in an effort to “impress” fellow inmates. At the same time, inmates facing other charges may try to barter with law enforcement, providing information allegedly learned from a fellow inmate in exchange for some benefit, such as a lesser sentence.

May 28, 2015 – Volume 3

Shaken Baby Syndrome and the broader category of Abusive Head Trauma is a well-accepted and evidence-based diagnosis. Physicians who regularly work with pediatric patients and who are on the front lines diagnosing the cause of injuries to children, as well as respected and established medical associations, confirm that violent whiplash shaking of a young child’s head can cause serious and even fatal brain injury. In spite of recent media coverage and claims from some physicians, there have been no new scientific advancements that have undercut the viability of either diagnosis. Needless to say, any shaken baby/abusive head trauma prosecution should be accompanied by evidence that the accused party was the cause of the injury.