1. Vincent Buccola
2.  Kathryn Dawson
3.  Hillary Schroeder
4.  Joshua Sellers
5.  Maya Song
6.  Daniel Sullivan
7.  Laura Vaughn

Project Assistant: Zonda Carriel

Appellate Advocacy Victory
This September, the Appellate Advocacy Clinic got its first conviction vacated, in United States v. Owens. Antonio Owens had been convicted of a 2002 bank robbery at a Harris Bank branch. He was sentenced to 145 months in prison. The government alleged that Owens organized the robbery and drove the getaway car for his cousin, who carried it out. At the trial, the government introduced evidence suggesting Owens robbed the same bank in 1995. A lineup photograph depicting Owens among others in prison clothing was admitted into evidence and then published to the jury for use during deliberations. This became a key piece of the prior bad act evidence. The government also introduced testimony from the 1995 bank teller, the police officer who organized the lineup, and Owens's cousin, who testified that Owens admitted robbing the bank previously. The trial court allowed in the prior bad act evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) and as intricately related to the charged crime. [read full article]