Reconceptualizing Preservation of the Right to Self-Defense in Jury Trials

The right to self-defense is one of the oldest and most universal concepts in Anglo-American criminal law and criminal procedure. Nonetheless, trial judges across the country are being absolved of erroneously denying the accused’s valid request for a substantiated self-defense jury instruction based on personal opinions, prejudices, and biases about the credibility of the accused’s case.

Anjali Pathmanathan, visiting lecturer and former public defender, studied this phenomenon and wrote a law review article, “Directing Unconstitutional Verdicts: Discussing Strategies to Combat When Judges Become Jurors on Self-Defense.”  She came to the conclusion that these trial judges are essentially directing verdicts of guilt against the accused. So what can trial counsel do to combat this practice and stop trial judges from usurping the jury’s role in this unconstitutional manner?

This webinar will offer a reconceptualization of how trial counsel can argue and preserve their client’s right to the jury’s consideration of their self-defense claim, while, hopefully paving the pathway for more fair jury trials and, if needed, subsequent appeals.

REGISTER to attend this informative and advocacy-focused NAPD webinar.  Registration is free for NAPD members.

Anjali Pathmanathan is a Visiting Lecturer in Law, Criminal Legal System Advocacy Fellow, and Associate Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School. Prior to joining Yale, she was an Assistant Professor of Legal Writing at St. John’s University School of Law and an Adjunct Professor of Clinical Law at Brooklyn Law School.

Before she began teaching, Pathmanathan was a Senior Appellate Counsel for the Center for Appellate Litigation, where she represented incarcerated individuals in all aspects of their direct appeals and post-conviction claims before the New York State courts. She also previously served as a Program Associate for the former Center on Immigration & Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice, after beginning her legal career as a Staff Attorney for the Criminal Defense Practice of the Legal Aid Society of New York.

As an experienced public defender, her scholarship focuses on issues related to due process and the criminal legal system, and has been published in the Georgia Criminal Law Review, International Criminal Law Review, The Harbinger of The N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change, and the New York Law Journal.

She holds a J.D. from Boston College Law School and a B.A. from New York University.