Spring 2024: Capital Punishment Clinic

By Professor Patrick Metze, Director of the Capital Punishment Clinic. Originally published in the Spring 2024 Texas Tech Law Newsletter.

The fifteenth Capital Punishment Clinic, featuring student Abby Keese's integration into the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases trial teams and participation in capital voir dire.

From the Desk of Patrick S. Metze – Director, Capital Punishment Clinic

The Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases office (RPDCC) welcomed it's fifteenth Capital Punishment Clinic this past Spring semester. This office is the only statewide defender for capital cases with eight regional offices throughout Texas. Their clients are, each of them, in the unenviable position of prolonged incarceration, generally single celled, alienated from family with little hope of eventual release. This semester one student was chosen from those that completed the Fall 2023 Capital Punishment Seminar. Completion of the seminar indoctrinates the chosen students into the unique world of the capital defender.

This column is reproduced only in brief. Read the whole thing in the Spring 2024 issue at Texas Tech Law.