We can't believe summer is almost over. Before classes start, we wanted to share one final video profiling one of our wonderful MDefenders graduates: Elias Graca. Hear Elias talk about his work in the Juvenile Justice Clinic @umichlaw.bsky.social and why he is drawn to public defense:

State's witness won't get out of your hair? This brief details research demonstrating that hair microscopy evidence does not meet the standards of reliable scientific evidence, as well as research showing how persuasive forensic testimony is to juries. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Allie Berdon. Allie is an aspiring public defender @umichlaw.bsky.social from New York. To hear more about Allie's journey, check out this video:

No one is immune to bias, not even professional expert witnesses. And in the forensic space, contextual bias can creep into testimony, seriously prejudicing our clients. This motion seeks to preclude one such biased expert. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet AG McGee. AG is an aspiring public defender @umichlaw.bsky.social who is from Kentucky. AG is spending this summer in Georgia working on post-conviction defense for people on death row. To hear more about AG's journey, check out this video:

Jurors aren't used to crime scene photos, and gratuitous, gruesome evidence can lead to worse, more punitive outcomes for our clients. Use this evidentiary motion to argue that inflammatory photographs be suppressed. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Ike Start. Ike is an aspiring public defender @umichlaw.bsky.social. Ike spent the summer after his first law school year interning at the Neighborhood Defender Service in Detroit. Hear Ike talk about what motivates him to do this work & what it was like to work in Detroit.

Myth: The severity of a sentence serves as a deterrent on crime. Fact: “General deterrence is primarily a function of the certainty of punishment, not its severity." It's all in our model motion: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Alex Jarecki. Alex just graduated from @umichlaw.bsky.social and is heading to Portland, Oregon to work at the Metropolitan Public Defender Office. We'll miss you, Alex, but we know that the people of Portland are in good hands.

The constitutional right not to testify against yourself is fundamental. Why don't jury instructions inform jurors that the choice not to testify can arise from entirely innocent reasons? Use this motion to amend instructions in your jurisdiction: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Gabriel Jimenez. Gabe just graduated from @umichlaw.bsky.social and is heading back home to Texas to work as a public defender. The MDefenders community here will miss him, but the people of Houston are so lucky to have Gabe in their corner.

Time for Fido to get more training! Was the drug-sniffing dog alerted through their own senses, or improperly cued by a police officer? For the former, check out this motion, rooted in social science research, to combat a finding of probable cause: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Do you smell something? Police increasingly justify searches based on the smell of weed, yet only 20% of these searches discover contraband. Our model brief argues that discretionary opinions perpetuate implicit bias and result in racially biased outcomes: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Was the statement your client gave to police contaminated? Take a look that this model motion, which argues statements given after a client was fed non-public information about a crime are involuntary and must be suppressed: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Another junk science resource! Check out this amicus brief that challenges the reliability of bite mark evidence, incorporating expert insight & social science to show that bite mark evidence is both inaccurate & prejudicial. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u... #PublicDefenderTwitter

Estimates of your client's height based on photo and video recording may be flawed -- "photogrammetry" requires specialized expertise, and the state's witness' authority may fall short. Our model motion has the details: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Criminal reform has (somewhat) followed the expansion of legalized marijuana in the US, yet marijuana testing is routinely used as a condition of release. Make it make sense! Check out this motion arguing for discretion in imposing this condition: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

This amicus brief written by 5 gender justice orgs argues that juries should be permitted to consider the accused's prior experiences of gender based violence. Like other #D4D resources, this brief incorporates social science. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Show, don't tell: this brief provides a basis to request that your jury watch a video on implicit bias prior to deliberation. The video features a civil rights attorney, a Federal Judge, and a U.S. Attorney. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Jacob León. Jacob is a recent @umichlaw.bsky.social MDefenders graduate who is heading to work as a public defender at the Bronx Defenders in New York. Jacob is going to be an amazing public defender. The Bronx is so lucky to have him.

ShotSpotter alerts are too imprecise to constitute particularized suspicion for a suspect, as recognized by courts across the country. Use this motion to argue that courts in your jurisdiction should follow suit: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Today's blog post: "Supreme Court of Tennessee Finds Confession by 17 Year-Old Who Was Held Incommunicado For About 7 Hous in the Middle of the Night Was Involuntary": www.evidenceprofblog.com/2026/06/supr...

Supreme Court of Tennessee Finds Confession by 17 Year-Old Who Was Held Incommunicado For About 7 Hous in the Middle of the Night Was Involuntary

It's really rare that a court reverses a murder conviction based upon finding a confession to be involuntary. That makes the recent opinion of the Supreme

evidenceprofblog.com

Calling all juvenile defenders! Empirical evidence reflects the fact that young folks who have been exposed to trauma are far more likely to give false, unreliable, and involuntary confessions. Consider this a factor in the inquiry. For more: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

Meet Nell Haney. Nell is a recent MDefenders graduate who is heading to work as a public defender at the Neighborhood Defender Service in Detroit. We are going to miss her @umichlaw.bsky.social, but we can't wait to see all of the amazing things she will do!

Social science shows that we tend to underestimate the coercion others feel when pressured by authority. Some states already require reasonable suspicion before consent searches can occur. Use the data in this pleading to argue that yours should too: datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

The #NJSupremeCourt recently recognized the scientific controversy around shaken baby syndrome. Check out this motion to argue your case #junkscience #publicdefendertwitter #D4D datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

This summer, while the MDefenders students are away doing internships in public defender offices, we thought we'd introduce you to some of our student members. This week meet recent graduate, Spoorthi Krishnaraj. Spoorthi is heading to New Orleans to work as a public defender.

Tackling implicit bias means going beyond questions. D4D's motion on using a "perspective-switching" mental imagery jury instruction provides a way to encourage more impartial deliberations. datafordefenders.org/wp-content/u...

New Data for Defenders: a motion seeking to preclude use of the term “victim,” arguing that the label presupposes guilt and undermines the presumption of innocence datafordefenders.org

Data for Defenders

Bringing Social Science into the Courtroom

datafordefenders.org

While we are here celebrating Lila, here is a photo of her at the federal courthouse in Detroit where she recently received this year's @umichlaw.bsky.social Freeman Award for excellence in criminal law and procedure. Congratulations, Lila. We are so proud of you!

MDefenders at Michigan Law@mdefenders.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This summer, while the MDefenders students are away doing internships in public defender offices, we thought we'd introduce you to some of our student members. This week meet recent graduate, Lila Nazarian.