Reflections from the Field, Part 7: Office of the Public Defender

I cannot thank UBSPI enough for the grant given for my work at the Baltimore County branch of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD). I love criminal law, so I was excited after contacting the OPD last spring and hearing there was an opportunity there for the summer. 

My supervising attorney told me that I would be creating a motion’s bank. The idea was that I would collect some motions from various attorneys at the office regarding search and seizure violations, pre-trial identification issues, Miranda suppression motions, etc., and compile sample motions for each issue. Basically, the goal was to have any attorney at the office be able to copy and paste the “R” and “A” section of an “IRAC” memo into any appropriate motion, leaving only the application of the law to the facts of the case to complete. In the course of the creation of the bank, I updated the office’s case law and created a reference file containing pinpoint citations and quotes of relevant MD and federal cases for several of the issues groups in the bank.

Yet the clerkship went so far beyond basic legal research. I quickly discovered how deep my knowledge and interest into criminal defense work is and found myself hunting for opportunities to help the OPD attorneys in their particular cases. Throughout the course of the summer I participated in several  brainstorming sessions with district and circuit court attorneys on framing issues for pretrial hearings. Additionally, I had an opportunity to write a motion to suppress on the validity of search incident to arrest regarding cell phones in MD—an issue the MD appellate courts have yet to rule on. Also, I participated with a Circuit court attorney in weighing the benefits and viability of a Franks hearing, in addition to several other substantive interactions in the office.

I guess I want to stress how difficult, if not impossible, the clerkship would have been sans grant. The grant made it possible to make fantastic connections in the Baltimore County OPD, really solidify my interest in criminal defense, and eat foods not predominantly flavored in chicken, shrimp, and beef (that’s ramen noodles for the uninitiated). Thank you so much UBSPI for making it all possible, and thank you OPD for the opportunity.

Michael Stone, 3L 

UBSGA Senator

UBSPI Community Service Chair