Spring 2010: Criminal Defense Clinic

By Professor Patrick Metze, Director of the Criminal Defense Clinic. Originally published in the Spring 2010 Texas Tech Law Newsletter.

Year-end report on the 2009-2010 Criminal Defense Clinic, recounting student caseloads, mentor program, trial advocacy training, and a sendoff to the graduating class.

From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Director, Criminal Defense Clinic

The students in the 2009-2010 Criminal Defense Clinic were busy all year representing real people in real cases in real time. This year, the students handled 150 cases for 116 clients. Of these cases, 27 are still pending, 82 were disposed of through some time of negotiated plea, 40 cases were dismissed, and one case was disposed of by a jury verdict of not guilty. Cases consisted of 129 misdemeanors and 21 felonies.

This column is reproduced only in brief. Read the whole thing in the Spring 2010 issue at Texas Tech Law.