Understanding, let alone telling, your client's story can be a daunting task. Lawyers often lack the time and resources to peel back the layers of a client's life and properly put their offense in context. Thankfully, they now have a free, powerful, comprehensive and confidential tool to help get the job done – Defense Map.

Helping us get Set For Sentencing is Charlie Asher, the founder/creator of defensemap.com. The mission of Defense Map is to help balance the scales of a criminal justice system rife with wrongful convictions, uninformed and excessive sentencings, and mass incarceration.

Defense Map gives attorneys a powerful, free resource to understand their clients' full defenses and backstories, to engage meaningfully with them, to help clients better understand themselves, and to give their lawyers what they need to persuade decision-makers to do the right thing at sentencing and beyond.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The free, powerful and confidential online sentencing mitigation tool called "Defense Map"
• Content and categories of Defense Map;
• Examples of how Defense Map is used in developing mitigation;
• Confidentiality of Defense Map;
• How going through the process can help not just the lawyer, but the client;
• How in-custody clients can access Defense Map;
• Defense Map is bi-lingual, offers a juvenile version and audio assistance for those that cannot read;
• Defense Map strengthens lawyer and client relationship;
• Static vs. Dynamic mitigation;
• The constitutional mandate for "balance of forces" in Warrius v. Oregon.

LINKS:

www.defensemap.com

Wardius v. Oregon, 412 U.S. 470, 93 S.Ct. 2208, 37 L.Ed.2d 82 (1973) was mentioned a couple of times. Here's an OYEZ link to read the case and hear oral arguments.

Charlie made mention of a sentencing mitigation video I produced for the case involving the kidnaping of the Gov. of Michigan. That video is publically available at THIS YOUTUBE LINK. Sentencing mitigation videos have been around for almost twenty years. I know, because I pioneered this powerful advocacy tool. For more about that, visit www.dougpassonlaw.com