Centers and Clinics
Prosecution Clinic Curriculum
Students will have the opportunity to experience a broad range of activities engaged in by prosecutors, from victim and witness relations to crime scene investigation to marshaling evidence for trial.
Internships will normally be in the Gainesville State Attorney's Office. Internships outside of the Gainesville area may be arranged with prior written approval of the professor. In addition to weekly class, students are expected to work as interns under the supervision of a practicing attorney a minimum of twenty-five hours per week during spring and fall semesters and thirty hours per week during summer semester.
The classroom portion of the clinic will explore the unique position of the public prosecutor in the adversarial system of criminal justice and seek to reconcile the conflicting roles the prosecutor is expected to play in the system. The classroom component will present a methodology for prosecution that will allow the prosecutor to be an advocate while at the same time remaining a minister of justice.
Actual legal work will vary, depending upon the section to which the intern is assigned, but the major factor determining the range of experience will be the student's initiative. In the Gainesville State Attorney's office, the students will be provided with an extensive checklist of opportunities for experience, and will be encouraged to take full advantage of every opportunity to learn all aspects of the functioning of the modern prosecutor's office.
Credit Hours
In the spring and fall semesters, nine credit hours are available, six as pass/fail and three are graded. During the summer semester, six credit hours are available and are all pass/fail.
Who Teaches the Clinic?
Legal Skills Professor George R. (Bob) Dekle, Sr., a retired prosecutor of thirty years' experience, teaches the classroom portion of the clinic and will serve as your mentor during your internship. An Assistant State Attorney will directly supervise you. The internship supervisor for the Gainesville State Attorney's Office is Heather Jones, a veteran prosecutor.