This is not your usual “eyewitness identification” piece. The authors’ idea – using an ophthalmologist as an expert — is different. Before the witness viewed the lineup or other identification process, did the police officers inquire whether the witness had a prescription for corrective lenses? This is an area lawyers may not be exploring.

Some crime victims say they remember every detail of the incident. Other victims barely remember what happened. Does a person’s memory for a traumatic event improve and become more complete in the days after the trauma? Is the memory for a traumatic event “burned into the brain” and immune to being forgotten? Researchers Daniel Reisberg and Kathy Pezdek provide an overview of current science.

Some of the trials lasted no more than five minutes. None of the Santee Dakota Indians – most who had no command of the English language – had interpreters, counsel, or the ability to call witnesses in their defense.

The federal gang enhancement follows the Sentencing Commission’s tradition of increasing sentences without critical and empirical examination of an enhancement’s impact. However, all hope is not lost. Even if the client has been convicted of a subject offense, is the client “affiliated with” a gang, cartel, or organized crime ring, and did the client commit the crime “in connection with” the organization? Juval Scott provides strategies to challenge the enhancement.

For many, the only path to freedom, and the medical care that comes with it, is compassionate release.

Amended FRE 702 gives defense lawyers ammunition to exclude questionable government expert evidence and prevent experts from overstating their conclusions. Rene Valladares and Hannah Nelson address arguments defense advocates should be prepared to make when confronted with government or court reluctance to apply the text of Rule 702 faithfully.

Law enforcement officers employ the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test during DUI investigations. What are the correct procedures? What common errors do officers make when they administer the test?

This month Teresa J. Sopp reviews Justice Pursued: The Exoneration of Nathan Myers and Clifford Williams by Bruce Horovitz and Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival and Unbreakable Bonds by Michelle Horton.

This month Jon M. Sands reviews When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey.

This month Amelie Gonzalez and Jacqueline Goodman review Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change by Ben Austen.

What events are NACDL affiliates hosting this month? Find out here.

Outmanned and outgunned Jose J. Monsivais

Norman Reimer receives NACDL’s 2002 Champion of Indigent Defense Award Susan J. Walsh

A Look Ahead at 2007

The Press Is Finally Getting It Steven D. Benjamin