By Joe Hooker
TDCAA Assistant Training Director in Austin
As the new Assistant (to the) Training Director, I have been fortunate to meet many people in our service group, help with research questions, and prepare the case summaries that are emailed out every Friday. But one of the main tasks I was hired for is to expand TDCAA’s online video library. While I have not received any calls or emails yet, I know our entire readership has been wondering where these new videos are and when will they be available. Well, the wait is finally over, folks! Our first videos will be available in the coming weeks.
TDCAA pulled one of our ethics scholars away from his writing desk and put him in front of a camera for a long day of filming to bring you two presentations on ethics that will be helpful to our newest prosecutors as well as seasoned veterans. Scott Durfee spent 32 years at the Harris County DA’s Office; he served as general counsel for 26 years. Scott worked for 11 years on the State Bar’s rules committee and this past year has been co-writing on a book on ethics procedure. Both in private practice and as an ADA, Scott has represented and helped prosecutors through the challenges of the State Bar’s grievance process. He was happy to bring the knowledge and expertise he has acquired both in his research and in the courtroom to two ethics videos for TDCAA. Not only are we confident that Scott’s presentations will help prosecutors in their daily decision-making, but also these videos will be worth 2 hours of ethics MCLE.
“When the State Bar Comes Knocking.” “Until recently, complaints against prosecutors were fairly uncommon,” Scott says. “This historical ‘underreporting’ of prosecutorial misconduct is a trend that appears to have reversed itself, at least in Texas. Grievances against prosecutors are now common.”[1] In his first presentation, “When the State Bar Comes Knocking,” Scott walks viewers through the entire grievance process. What is the difference between an inquiry, a discretionary referral, and a complaint? Who can file a complaint against a prosecutor? What should prosecutors do if they receive the dreaded envelope from the State Bar telling them they are the subject of a grievance? Scott answers all these questions thoroughly and prepares his viewers for what steps to take if the State Bar comes knocking.
“Keeping Up with the Ethical Rules.” In his second presentation, “Keeping Up with the Ethical Rules,” Scott covers in detail a number of topics related to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC). Scott gives special attention to TDRPC Rule 3.09: Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor and also covers a number of topics prosecutors will encounter, including ex parte communications, communicating with a represented party, media relations, and preparing a witness for testimony.
Free for paid TDCAA members
These two ethics videos will be available for free only to paid members of TDCAA (including associate members). If you’re not yet a member but would like to join TDCAA (and take these online courses for free), that’s great—please fill out a membership application on our website at www.tdcaa.com/membership/application. Membership costs $100 for elected prosecutors, $85 for assistants, $80 for investigators, $75 for key personnel and victim assistance coordinators, $85 for general associate membership, and $60 for law student associate membership.
Coming soon
Our next projects are already underway. We will be filming our first-ever Juvenile Law series in May. Featuring a number of resident Texas experts, this series is geared toward new practitioners in juvenile law and will cover a range of issues encountered daily in a juvenile court docket that may be unfamiliar to prosecutors new to that area of the law. Have you recently been moved to the juvenile division and are feeling lost, or do you just want to expand the breadth of your juvenile law knowledge? This series is for you!
Also, the fifth and final installment in our Mental Health Video Series is in the planning stages and will be filmed in the coming months. We will recap where this series has taken us, as well as discuss issues facing some offices, including jail-based competency. Be on the lookout for this concluding chapter of our Mental Health series.
Endnote
[1] Laura Bayouth Popps, Prosecutorial Misconduct and the Role of Discipline, 80 Tex. Bar J. 430 (July 2017).