Examples of students making a difference for criminal defense clients:
- In an interlocutory appeal, one of our students successfully argued that the use of choke holds by law enforcement officers constitutes unreasonable force and requires suppression of any resulting evidence. The decision from the Indiana Court of Appeals made new law in the state.
- A Criminal Defense Clinic client was charged with resisting law enforcement. It was alleged that he interfered with a police officer who was arresting his autistic son for the son's actions on a school bus. A video recording showed the police officer applying mace and choking the son at the point when the father approached and yelled, “Don't mace my son, he is autistic.” With criminal defense faculty sitting as co-counsel, our clinic student conducted the entire trial, from jury selection through closing argument. The jury returned a not guilty verdict in less than 15 minutes.
