TTA in California

We have worked with the Santa Barbara County Executive Office to:

Reduce the number of continuances and delays in Santa Barbara’s Superior Courts by improving the discovery process, access to in-custody defendants, and the Superior Court calendar system
Provide assistance in the development of an email system that allows defense attorneys to have non-confidential but regular email communication with in-custody defendants
Increase efficiency and fairness for defendants with a focus on preparation of pretrial services reports in advance of virtual arraignment and the presence of probation at every arraignment and electronic transmission of discovery

We are working with the Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office and the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) to:

Provide training and technical assistance with support from CCI’s experienced attorney-practitioners and researchers
- This will include remote learning sessions with defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, and other criminal legal system stakeholders from jurisdictions where legal representation is available at the police precinct
Assist CCI in a process evaluation documenting the pre-arraignment representation pilot program in Santa Barbara County
- This will include an on-site needs and readiness assessment conducted by attorney-practitioners to help the site understand the functioning of early representation in their local criminal legal system and to determine the feasibility of implementing police precinct representation
Conduct follow-up site visits, including targeted stakeholder planning meetings and individual interviews to understand the local efforts that have been undertaken in response to the remote learning sessions and findings from the needs and readiness assessment

We have worked with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office to:

Create an interactive training program featured both pre-recorded and live web-based training
Curated and shared a library of on-demand video content focusing on developing case theories and themes, crafting opening and closing statements, voir dire, and critical direct and cross-examination skills
Hosted a live, web-based training program featuring 4 interactive skill development sessions where--working with a national faculty of experienced trainers and defense attorneys-- participants used case hypotheticals to hone their skills.

We are working with the Santa Cruz Public Defender's Office to:

Identify model practices relating to developing holistic defense services and the use of vertical representation
Measure the efficacy of the new models, by considering non-traditional outcome measures such as client satisfaction, improved procedural justice, and greater fulfillment of community needs
Develop a training program to educate defense lawyers transitioning from the existing, traditional model of advocacy to the utilization of holistic and vertical representation
Create educational resources for other court system stakeholders such as judges, prosecutors, and probation officers about holistic defense and vertical representation to help improve the transition to the new model of representation.