FACDL Death Penalty Seminar, Day 2:

Day 2 of the Death Penalty Seminar was a long day, but well worth the time. One of the highlights of the day was a speaker on False Confessions, Detective James Trainum.

Det. Trainum is the project director for VICAP’s Violent Crime Case Review Project. In his session, Detective Trainum shared his own compelling and moving personal experience with a false confession. In his step by step deconstruction, Det. Trainum took us through the entire investigation to the discovery and gave insight on how to spot and fight a false confession.

The day ended with an inspirational session by the pioneering capital defense attorney and professor of law at DePaul University, Andrea Lyon. Prof. Lyon was the first woman to sit first chair in a death penalty case in the United States. After sharing some of her techniques, she brought most of the audience to the verge of (if not to actual) tears with her demonstration of a closing argument.