Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Terrorism cases in civilian and military courts may require defense attorneys to work with clientswho have been tortured during their detentions and interrogations, whether by the US or othergovernments. Attorneys face a number of obstacles in developing a functional legal relationshipwith these clients with a history of abuse by the government. Barriers include lack of trust andopen communication, difficulty obtaining a history of the client’s life (including torture history,given psychological symptoms of avoidance) and cultural obstacles due to the perceived oractual cultural differences. Use of a mental health expert to assess a traumatized client’s history,as well as to educate the legal team on the effects of the torture on the client’s ability to trust andperceive information accurately can be essential. In this presentation, a capital defense attorneywith 25 years of experience, including extensive work on the 9/11 cases in MilitaryCommissions in Guantanamo Bay, and a clinical psychologist who is an expert in the effects oftorture and has evaluated several terrorism defendants, will discuss the interplay between mentalhealth and legal issues. Specifically, barriers to a healthy and productive attorney/clientrelationship will be discussed that emerge from an experience of torture and trauma, and specificstrategies of communication that can be effective between lawyers and abused clients will bepresented. In addition, legal issues pertaining to torture in criminal cases, such as suppression ofstatements and mitigation will be discussed.Courtroom Bias toward Culture, Race, Religion, Maltreatment, Torture, GenderDiscrimination, and AbuseJacqueline K. Walsh, Walsh & Larranaga, Seattle, USA (jackie@jamlegal.com)Mark Larranaga, Walsh & Larranaga, Seattle, USA (mark@jamlegal.com)Many capitally charged clients have experienced bias throughout their lives. Their experiences ofbias can be because of their cultural background, race, religion, maltreatment, torture, genderdiscrimination and/or abuse. In order to appreciate your client’s life experiences, it is necessaryto learn about the events that shaped your client’s life and neurological impairments and mentaldiseases from which he or she may suffer so as to understand the lens that he or she sees theworld through. Once knowledge about your client’s limitations is learned, the legal team canwork toward educating the court, prosecuting authority and the jurors, so as to effectivelychallenge bias in the courtroom. In our presentation we will discuss how to protect your clientagainst bias in the courtroom and educate the court, prosecuting authority and jurors so as toevoke empathy for your client.International Manual for CapitalSandra L Babcock, Northwestern University (s-babcock@law.northwestern.edu)135