Professional Development

If you can try a DWI, you can try anything. We will spend two days picking apart DWI trials in District Court from start to finish, examining all the opportunities and land mines. Attendees will develop a better understanding of issues unique to impaired driving cases and how to properly present them in court. Topics include criminal procedure, stops and arrests, chemical analysis, use of experts, crashes, and checking stations.

This new, two-day experimental learning course unpacks child abuse cases in which jurors struggle to understand the victim’s response to abuse or the science of trauma.  Jurors say “I believe the child” but struggle to convict when faced with complex and confusing responses to abuse.  Expert witnesses in the prosecution’s case-in-chief can have a profound impact on jurors’ ability to process and interpret evidence in a light most favorable to the child victim. This course will provide insight into the types of expert witnesses that can assist the prosecution and provide strategies for presenting this testimony. Attendees will craft and deliver direct examinations of experts and receive feedback from Zero Abuse faculty.

This is a small, interactive course which requires attendance and participation both days. Seating is limited to ensure quality and interaction. After initial registration, we will notify you if you have been accepted.  You will be required to confirm your registration TWO WEEKS prior to this course. If you cannot attend for any reason, please cancel your registration as soon as you know, so that your seat can be given to someone on the waitlist.

NEW for 2025 (and long overdue) this multi-day program will cover the key aspects of investigation and successfully prosecuting controlled substance offenses. Drug offenses account for nearly a third of all North Carolina convictions, and they represent an even larger share of many prosecutors’ workload. This program will examine the law and the challenges that frequently arise in areas such as working with informants, conducting searches, selecting charges, navigating discovery requirements, negotiating pleas and securing cooperation, understanding lab results, and explaining it all to a jury.

As the juvenile court system keeps evolving, it’s crucial for law enforcement professionals and other allied professionals to stay up to date with the legal changes regarding juvenile matters. This one-day training session will mainly focus on juvenile procedures, investigations, the roles of School Resource Officers, “Raise the Age” information, and a juvenile law update. Additionally, community organizations will be present to provide law enforcement officers with information about the services they offer to juvenile offenders

This one-day training will focus on the challenges of working with child victims, domestic violence victims, elder victims, and those who fall in between. We will focus on a victim-centered approach and the logistics of getting victims to pre-trial meetings and in the courtroom.

Digital technology, social networking, mobile phone apps, and artificial intelligence are changing the face of the crimes against children. Anonymity has always enabled exploiters to easily find, groom, and exploit young victims for both sexual and financial gain. Now with the increasing use of artificial intelligence, opportunists are utilizing new ways to create and share illegal material. This course will discuss current sexual exploitation statutes in North Carolina, trends in the field, new investigative techniques, and tips for prosecutors navigating this new evidentiary world.