A core NDAA mission: need assistance? Call NDAA.

• Author: Burns, Scott
• Position: National District Attorneys Ass'n

AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, the core missions of NDAA are training (grant-funded courses, national courses as well as at the NAC), striving to be "the Voice of America's Prosecutors" on all criminal justice issues (John R. Justice, National Academy of Sciences Report, Webb Commission, and Congressional Hearings--to name a few) and providing prosecution or technical assistance (TAs as we call them) to America's 39,000 prosecutors.

At the risk of increasing the number of TAs we handle (currently 4,000 to 5,000 a month) I want to give you a sense of how our interns, staff attorneys, senior attorneys and NDAA staff are making a difference each and every day. A "TA" can be a phone call, an e-mail, drafting of a motion, in-depth research on a particular issue, providing information on a defense expert witness and, on occasion, we literally assist in the prosecution of a case from voir dire to verdict. The following are a sampling of responses from the prosecutors we have assisted:

Dear Amanda, I wanted to write to let you know I won the trial last week, thanks in no small part to all the materials you sent met!!! This little boy will be safe for a while. So thanks for all your hard work and time. We're simply too slammed time wise to gather all of this invaluable material. But I used all of it, so THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!--Asst. DA, Wisconsin.

Dear Metria, I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for all of your help ... it didn't go unnoticed--and it is appreciated.--Deputy Co. Atty, Arizona.

Dear Mary, Verdict at 6:45 PM. Guilty first degree murder without mercy. Sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Thank you so much for all of your help.--Asst. DA, West Virginia.

Dear Suzanna, I recently tried a severe abuse case involving a four month old infant with subdural hemorrhages, subarachnoid hemorrhages, bilateral retinal hemorrhages, multiple rib fractures, a metaphysical fracture of the tibia, and a radius fracture. The Defense expert witness submitted a written report and it was suggested to me (by a Doctor from Iowa) that I contact NDAA for assistance, which I did, and spoke with Derm Garrett.... Derm's expertise was invaluable, and I cannot thank the NDAA or Derm enough. It is because of his assistance and the resources that the NDAA had compiled on the Defense expert that I felt confident and prepared to cross this expert. I knew that we had thoroughly researched these issues and the studies and that was only...