2025 OCDLA Annual Conference: Fighting Forward 

June 12–14, Riverhouse on the Deschutes, Bend, Oregon

Program Speakers, Topics and Times subject to change. 

Thursday, June 12

Moderator: Courtney Quale-Conrad, Deschutes Defenders, Bend

9:00 a.m. Public Defense Services Commission Meeting (adjourns at 1:00 p.m.)

Noon       Registration / Exhibitors

1:00         Legislative Update: 2025 Highlights

Mae Lee Browning, OCDLA Legislative Director

2:00         Yes, Oregon, There Is a Confrontation Clause: A Constitutional Gift & Grinch that Can Make Your Client’s Case

Henry Oostrom-Shah, Metropolitan Public Defenders, Portland

Confrontation has been labeled—fairly—”utterly incomprehensible.” First, we clear things up by comparing the state and federal constitutional hurdles that Confrontation forces the state to clear. We then discuss an often neglected constitutional gift: Confrontation without the Confrontation Clause at PV hearings. Last, we talk about the Grinch of “unavailability” and how to make sure that doctrine doesn’t break your client’s case.   

3:00         Break / Door Prizes

3:15         Time Served, Time Wasted? What Oregon’s Research Says about Prison Sentences and Reoffending

Christopher M. Campbell, Ph.D., Director, Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute, Associate Professor, Dept. of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Portland State University 

Want tips to justify your arguments for shorter sentence recommendations? Drawing on statewide data, this presentation will show how length of prison sentences is largely uncorrelated with recidivism and longer stays in prison may actually increase reoffending. The implications will be discussed as they relate to sentencing practice & policy, as well as to countering deterrence-based arguments. 

4:15          President’s Awards & Board of Directors Candidate Statements

4:30         The Mindful Attorney: Preventative Self-Care for a Trauma-Informed Practice Mental Health/Substance Use credit (pending)

Frankie Hupy, Public Defender of Marion County, Salem

This presentation looks at the science of trauma in the brain and body through the lens of mindfulness of our own and our clients’ histories. We will also discuss spoon theory for measuring emotional energy as a backdrop to creating your own preventative self-care plan.

5:30          CLE adjourns for the day.

5:45          Welcome Reception— Open to attendees and attendees’ families. Vegan & kid friendly!

7:00          DEI Committee BIPOC Meetup

Defenders and investigators of color are invited to attend a reception hosted by OCDLA’s DEI committee. The committee is committed to building community for defenders of color and looks forward to forming new connections at this event. Hosted wine, sodas and desserts.

Friday, June 13

Moderator: Alex Reiter, Umpqua Valley Public Defender, Roseburg

7:45          Continental Breakfast (included)

8:45         The Appellate Update: Looking Back to Fight Forward

Marc Brown and Carla Edmondson, Oregon Public Defense Commission—Appellate Division

"You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been," said Maya Angelou. Join Marc and Carla as they review the most notable appellate decisions of the last year to help you chart your path through the opposition. 

9:45          Break/ Door Prizes

10:00       Brady: How to Make Requests that Yield Results

Grant Cole, Metropolitan Public Defender, Portland

This presentation will take a deep dive into securing Brady material and police disciplinary records, particularly as those efforts are occurring in Multnomah County.

11:00        Kids Are Different: Rethinking Confrontation with Child Witnesses

Ted Occhialino, Metropolitan Public Defender, Portland

Especially in cases where a child is the alleged victim, conventional cross-examination strategies must be reexamined. As defense attorneys, we are taught to confront and hammer on every discrepancy, each change in narrative, and any different story that an adverse witness presents. We are trained to paint adverse witnesses as liars interested only in pointing the finger at our clients and having an axe to grind; that inconsistencies in their statements and observations are motivated by animus toward our clients. We better serve our clients when we rethink these approaches with child witnesses. There are many ways to get the testimony you need from a child witness to make your case: building rapport, taking advantage of accommodations, gaining trust, indirect confrontation, and empathy often work better than conventional confrontation. 

12:00      Break / Transition

12:15       Lunch   (included)

Sponsored by TravelPro, Tigard

 12:15       Board of Directors Meeting

 1:15         Ethics | Ethics credit (pending)

Lisa Ludwig, Portland

2:15         Special Announcement: Federal Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panel

Lisa Ludwig, Panel Attorney District Representative for the District of Oregon 

2:30         Break/ Transition; Board of Directors meeting concludes 

2:45         BREAKOUTS

                 Breakout: No More “Bombshell Claims”: Fending Against Juror Misconduct

Rian Peck, Portland

Two recent serious felony trials in Portland have resulted in jurors coming forward with “bombshell claims” of misconduct, misunderstanding, and regret. Litigating juror misconduct post-trial is hard. We’ll talk about that, plus ways to avoid post-trial issues by fending off the misconduct and confusion beforehand.

Breakout: “Forensic” Confrontation Clause Workshop: More Statutory and Constitutional Gifts to Keep Out Expert Testimony

Henry Oostrom-Shah, Metropolitan Public Defenders, Portland

Yes, Oregon, Confrontation Clause is real, and he brings us another gift: “forensic” confrontation. Last June, the United States Supreme Court limited the prosecution’s use of substitute experts who parrot back incriminating conclusions without ever touching the underlying evidence or analysis. See Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024). In the last several months, Oregon courts have similarly raised the bar for the state’s admission of scientific evidence. See State v. Bowman,373 Or 213 (2025) (distinguishing inadmissible hearsay from expert testimony); see also State v. Widerman, 339 Or App 380 (2025) (reaching same conclusion as Smith under Article I, section 11). We interweave state statutory and constitutional law with the federal Constitution’s Confrontation Clause. We then work through several real-life examples involving SANE reports, “sex offender packets,” and DNA analysis.   

                 Breakout: Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination (SPPE), Part 1: Overview

Jordon Huppert, Oregon Public Defense Commission, Salem 

The SPPE is a new way to become a licensed attorney in Oregon. Following law school, SPPE applicants work in supervised apprenticeship and develop a portfolio of work that is assess by the bar’s Board of Examiners. 

3:45         Break / Transition 

4:00         BREAKOUTS 

                 Breakout:  Padilla and the Immigrant Rights Project

J.J. Rollin and Erin McKee, Immigrant Rights Project, Oregon Justice Resource Center, Portland

This session is for counsel new to working with OJRC’s Immigrant Rights Project, funded by OPDC to assist public defense providers meet their constitutional duty under Padilla v. Kentucky to advise noncitizen clients about the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.  You will learn how to access and effectively work with IRP, with the goal of reaching immigration-safer outcomes for your clients.

Breakout: Shooting Reconstruction: Bullet Trajectories, Body Positions & Biomechanical Engineering

Dutch Johnson, Engineer, Wiltshire Forensic Biomechanics, Glendale AZ

This presentation offers a brief introduction to Biomechanical Engineering and Injury Biomechanics. This skill set is used to determine how injuries are caused, how bullet trajectories are determined, and how body positions are approximated. (~10%, of course). We will look at cases from Oregon, California, Arizona and Utah where biomechanical shooting reconstruction has been used to assist with the criminal defense case through trial.

Breakout: Supervised Practice Portfolio Examination (SPPE), Part 2: SPPE In Practice: Lessons from the Field

Laura Fine, Supervising Attorney, Eugene; Carrie Petersen, Supervising Attorney, Public Defender of Marion County and Kia Tolbert, Former SPPE Candidate (Program Completed), Umpqua Valley Public Defender

5:00          CLE adjourns for the day.

5:15          First Timers Reception on garden lawn

                  Conference Reception and Silent Auction — Ballroom

Saturday, June 14

Moderator:  New OCDLA President

8:00          Hot Breakfast (included)

9:00          Jedi Jury Deselection: Avoiding the Phantom Menace

                  La Mer Kyle-Griffiths, Training Division Chief, Los Angeles County Public Defender, Los Angeles CA 

Learning objectives: 1. Participants will understand the power and importance of leaning in to cause challenges and asking questions to identify potential jurors to strike. 2. Participants will learn how to craft questions to start conversation on core beliefs, how to pivot to the rest of the panel, and when to switch questioning styles. 3. Participants will learn how to isolate jurors who need to be struck for cause and insulate them from being rehabilitated by a Judge/prosecutor.

10:30       Break / Door Prizes

10:45       OCDLA Business Meeting

• In Memoriam PowerPoint – Remembering Members we lost this year
• Introduce New Board Members
• Announce Juvenile Law Award Recipients
• Ross Shepard Lifetime Service to OCDLA Award Presentation – Gail Meyer, Award Recipient
• Sunny Climate Raffle Drawing  / Win a Trip for Two to Maui! / Read on and purchase tickets.

11:00       Immigration  KYR and Hot Topics    

Kate Sinkins, Immigration Attorney, Lincoln City

J.J. Rollin and Erin McKee, Immigrant Rights Project, Oregon Justice Resource Center, Portland

This session will provide vital "know your rights" information to share with noncitizen clients who may be subject to ICE enforcement. It will also cover current hot topics in immigration law and policy, such as ICE courthouse arrests, efforts to end birthright citizenship, denaturalization, the Laken Riley Act, and proposed federal legislation expanding crime-based grounds for deportation. The goal is to help you understand the evolving landscape and its impact on your clients

12:00       Kintsukuroi Sentencing

Laurie Shertz, Portland 

Kintsukuroi, the Japanese art of “golden repair,” involves mending broken pottery with gold, silver, or platinum, embracing the flaws as part of the object’s history rather than concealing them.

This philosophy can be a powerful tool in criminal defense. Applying Kintsukuroi to your practice means embracing and highlighting your clients’ burdens, journeys and rehabilitation efforts as part of their story. This fresh perspective can be applied to developing mitigation strategies and crafting compelling arguments for sentencing.

Most of our clients end up standing before a judge for sentencing. If you’d like to consider some new strategies to help them put their best foot forward, you’ll get some practical ideas and sources for this crucial aspect of your practice. 

12:45  Adjourn

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2025 OCDLA Annual Conference: Fighting Forward

June 12–14, Riverhouse, Bend

Defense Investigation Track

A track of investigation specific topics running concurrently with the General Session presentations. 

Program Speakers, Topics and Times subject to change. 

Thursday, June 12

Moderator:  Steve Wilson

9:00 a.m. Public Defense Services Commission Meeting (adjourns 1:00 p.m.)

Noon    Registration / Exhibitors

1:00     Mental Health Issues

Megan McNeal, PsyD, Portland

2:00     The Art of the Interview

An important interview could make or break your case, let’s talk about it.

Emma Decker and Nina Greene, Investigators, Portland

The best interviews don't feel like “interviews” at all—they are conversations. This session will cover basic interview skills such as preparation, cold calling, note-taking, interview styles, and how to build rapport. We will talk about hits and misses from real cases, do some roleplaying, and touch on legal and ethical considerations to keep in mind as a PI. This session is aimed at people who are newer to the PI field or want to boost their interviewing confidence, but we welcome those who are more experienced to share their own tips and tricks.

3:00    Break / Door Prizes

3:15     You've Been Served!

Emma Decker and Nina Greene, Investigators, Portland

For the first portion of this session, an attorney will discuss the legal parameters for subpoena service in Oregon. During the second portion, investigators will discuss what subpoena service actually looks like in practice: how to find your subject, how to approach them, navigating a difficult service, and what successful service looks like.

4:30    Basic Forensic Firearm Evaluations: What to Consider in Firearm Cases

Matt Noedel, Noedel Scientific Forensic Consultation, Puyallup, WA

This 1 hour presentation will provide detailed descriptions and examples of  modern ammunition, firearm design, fired bullet/cartridge case performance, distance determination and describe what investigators and attorneys need to look for in a firearm related case. A slide show presentation will be augmented with practical demonstrations to reinforce the topics covered.

5:30          CLE adjourns for the day.

5:45          Welcome Reception— Open to attendees and attendees’ families. Vegan & kid friendly!
 

7:00          DEI Committee BIPOC Meetup

Defenders and investigators of color are invited to attend a reception hosted by OCDLA’s DEI committee. The committee is committed to building community for defenders of color and looks forward to forming new connections at this event. Hosted wine, sodas and desserts.

Friday, June 13

Moderator: James Comstock, Portland

7:45 Continental Breakfast (included)

8:45    How To Think Like a (Private) Dick

Steve Wilson, Investigator, Portland

How To Think Like A (Private ) Dick is a collection of tips, tricks, and advanced techniques for gathering information. This includes strategies in creating and supporting a factual narrative, creative ways to locate and request unusual public records, and practical applications of critical thinking. 

9:45    Break/ Door Prizes

10:00    Don't Pull Your Hair Out: How to Work Effectively with Attorneys

Tiffany Harris and Norah Van Dusen, Attorneys, Portland

A panel discussion on building teamwork, creating good communication, managing expectations, and working together. We will discuss what lawyers need from investigators (but sometimes don't know how to ask for), and how to spot an attorney you don't want to work with. 

11:00 Break / Announcements

11:15  The State’s Case: An Insider’s View of a Financial Crime Investigation,

Colin Benson, Dept. of Justice, Portland

Colin’s presentation will introduce defense investigators to an insider’s view of how investigations are initiated and how prosecutors decide which case to proceed on and which to decline through a brief description of an actual case in which a defense investigator’s report was critical in the DA Office decision making.  

He will offer practical tools for approaching an new case and he will provide a glimpse of new developments like crypto asset and blockchain investigations asset tracing.

12:15 Lunch   (included); OCDLA Board of Directors Meeting 

Lunch Sponsored by TravelPro, Tigard

1:15    Understanding the Ballistic Tool Mark Examination (The Science of Comparison)

Matt Noedel, Noedel Scientific Forensic Consultation, Puyallup, WA 

This one-hour presentation will describe the laboratory process and theories behind tool mark comparison. Categories of reporting and a discussion on what constitutes “sufficient agreement” will be described. The role of NIBIN in this process will be considered in context to a wholistic approach and mitigating bias in the examination process.

2:15    Ethics

James Comstock, Portland

2:45    Break / Door Prizes

3:00    Working with Incarcerated Clients and Witnesses

Mark Wilson, Oregon Justice Resource Center

4:00    How I Solved It

Steve Wilson, James Comstock, Dawn Krantz, and Terry Courtney

5:00          CLE adjourns for the day.

5:15          First Timers Reception on garden lawn

                  Conference Reception and Silent Auction — Ballroom

Saturday, June 14

Moderator: James Comstock, Portland

8:00    Hot Breakfast (included)

9:00    Conference Room opens

9:15    Mobile Device Evidence: Navigating Cell Phone Downloads

Kelsey Guay, Roloff Digital Forensics, Portland

This will be a one hour class focused on hands-on practice navigating Cellebrite UFED Reader and Axiom Portable Case. The goal of this class is to help attendees develop greater insight for understanding digital artifacts. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop to allow for hands-on practice; mock evidence data will be provided.

10:30    Break 

10:45       OCDLA Business Meeting – General Sessions Ballroom

• In Memoriam PowerPoint – Remembering Members we lost this year
• Introduce New Board Members
• Announce Juvenile Law Award Recipients
• Ross Shepard Lifetime Service to OCDLA Award Presentation – Gail Meyer, Award Recipient
• Sunny Climate Raffle Drawing  / Win a Trip for Two to Maui! / Read on and purchase tickets.

11:00         How to Build Trust with Clients: Incorporating Principles of Trauma Informed Care

Haydn Dolata, Investigator and MSW student, Portland, Oregon

There are many elements from social work that can help inform how investigators can and should interact with their clients, from beginning engagement to advocacy. This presentation will dive into trauma, what trauma informed care is, and how it can best be applied to our work as investigators to better serve our clients. 

12:00         Small Groups: Discuss Your Case

Steve Wilson, Terry Courtney, James Comstock and more

Bring your problems! Unsure how to proceed on a case? Need help overcoming a records obstacle? Looking for feedback on an ethical issue? We will break into small, moderated groups and workshop your issues. Credit given whether you have questions to ask or answers to give. 

12:45 Adjourn

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