For the Prosecution

The vast majority of prosecution work occurs outside of courtrooms and less than 10% of all criminal cases go to trial. Courtroom performance, then, is of little import if prosecutors have not carefully investigated and prepared cases for prosecution. Courtroom performance is at its best, on the other hand, when prosecutors have thoroughly supervised the investigation and prepared the case for trial. In the end, the raw material prosecutors have to work with in courtrooms--the evidence--is a product of all of the work prosecutors perform outside the courtroom. For the Prosecution: How to Prosecute Criminal Cases seeks to provide prosecutors and those who wish to become prosecutors, including law students, guidance on how to prosecute criminal cases from investigation to appeal. This book provides guidance on how to successfully investigate and prosecute criminal cases. Thus, this book focuses on strategies and tactics involved in prosecution, and the soft skills for managing cases and people. This book examines how to think about criminal cases, guide investigations, and break down and organize complex cases in a persuasive manner. The book also examines ways to organize and prioritize caseloads, strategies for taking down criminal organizations, and tactics for turning criminals into cooperators. The book describes how to handle motions practice, prepare a case for trial, and successfully litigate sentencing hearings and appeals. This is not just another trial advocacy book. It is all of the work prosecutors perform outside the courtroom that makes it possible for them to resolve more than 90% of their cases through guilty pleas, and to prevail on the relatively few cases that go to trial. This book focuses on all the laws, duties, strategies and tactics prosecutors execute investigating and prosecuting criminal cases for those who wish to become prosecutors or further their career. Throughout C.J. Williams explores the strategies and tactics involved in prosecuting criminal cases, as well as examines the skills a successful prosecutor needs to develop in order to work with all those involved in the criminal justice system. He even brings his own experiences and lessons learned about prosecuting criminal cases into For the Prosecution, giving the reader more than the typical trial advocacy book.
About the Author: C.J. Williams is a United States District Court Judge., appointed under Article III of the United States Constitution. As a District Court Judge, he has the responsibility of presiding over civil and criminal cases filed in the district. Before being appointed to this position in 2018, he served as United States Magistrate Judge from 2016-2018, where he presided over all pretrial matters in criminal cases (e.g., initial appearance, arraignment, detention, probable cause, suppression, competency, guilty plea, jury selection). In civil cases, he presided over all non-dispositive motions, settlement conferences, and jury selection. He has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1997-2016, handling complex criminal and civil cases, trying more than 50 felony cases. From 2008 to 2016, he served as the Senior Litigation Counsel, responsible for training, handling or supervising all complex litigation, and advising trial attorneys. From 2010 to 2011, he served on a detail in Washington, DC, with the Capital Case Section, working on death penalty cases. Judge Williams has served as an instructor for the Department of Justice at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, and has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of South Dakota Law School, and the University of Iowa College of Law. He has published more than a dozen law review articles, authored a textbook entitled Advanced Evidence: Applying the Rules of Evidence in Pretrial and Trial Advocacy (2018) and co-authored another textbook entitled Federal Criminal Practice (2016).