APDA Conference 2026: Full Schedule

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

8:15am MST

Wednesday June 17, 2026 8:15am - 9:45am MST

Join me for the driest course of the summer! We'll be breaking down the legal frameworks that govern perhaps the two most confusing criminal law concepts – duplicity and multiplicity. If you enjoy listening to lengthy presentations on pure law, or simply can't remember the difference between duplicity and multiplicity to save your life, this course is for you!

Faculty

Scott Boncoskey

Attorney, Maricopa Co. Legal Defender

Wednesday June 17, 2026 8:15am - 9:45am MST
Colonnade

Motion Practice

CLE Hours 1.5
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10:00am MST

Representing Foreign Nationals in Capital Cases

Wednesday June 17, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MST

Colonnade

This session will explore challenges faced by defense teams representing foreign nationals in capital cases, offer strategies for overcoming hurdles, and opportunities to apply International Law.

Faculty

Alyssa Dormer

Attorney, Dormer Law/Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program

Harriet McCulloch

Attorney, Reprieve NGO

Harriet McCulloch oversees Reprieve’s regional death penalty work. Reprieve works with fellows and partners around the world to save our clients from execution – and in doing so challenges systems of injustice.

Wednesday June 17, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MST
Colonnade

Capital

CLE Hours 1.5

3:15pm MST

Probation: The Punishment That Follows You Home

Wednesday June 17, 2026 3:15pm - 4:45pm MST

Colonnade

Probation is often sold as leniency, but in practice it is one of the most invasive and least understood forms of punishment imposed on our clients. This course examines the real-world operation of probation in Arizona, breaking down standard and specialized probation terms and how they are routinely interpreted, and weaponized, against our clients. Attendees will explore the breadth of probation officer discretion, the lack of meaningful oversight, and the recurring ways probation practices erode constitutional and statutory rights. The course emphasizes practical defense strategies for counseling clients, challenging unlawful conditions, and responding to alleged violations.

Faculty

Kacie Nickel

Attorney, Maricopa Co. Public Defender

Kacie Nickel has been an attorney with the Maricopa Co. Public Defender’s for over eight years. She has worked in Early Disposition Court, the Trial Group, and currently serves in the Specialty Court Unit, where she assists clients navigating therapeutic courts. Kacie has a particular... Read More →

Katie Krejci

Attorney, Maricopa Co. Public Defender

Katie Krejci is an attorney with the Maricopa Co. Public Defender’s . She earned her J.D. in 2014 from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and has spent her career litigating criminal cases on behalf of indigent defendants. Since 2017, Katie has... Read More →

Wednesday June 17, 2026 3:15pm - 4:45pm MST
Colonnade

Probation

CLE Hours 1.5

8:15am MST

Preserve, Present, Prevail: The Art of Criminal Lower Court Appeals in Arizona

Thursday June 18, 2026 8:15am - 9:45am MST

Colonnade

This presentation will explore unique and creative ways to preserve the record. It will provide guidance on how to present the best lower court appeals presentations you can. Lower court appeals are a unique animal that requires different rules and different strategy.

Faculty

Rhonda Neff

Attorney, Law Offices of Rhonda Neff

Thursday June 18, 2026 8:15am - 9:45am MST
Colonnade

Appeals

CLE Hours 1.5

10:00am MST

Overview of Using Genetics in Mitigation

Thursday June 18, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MST

Colonnade

This course explores the growing use of behavioral and psychiatric genetic information in legal settings, including research linking genetic variants to disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and depression. It introduces key concepts like epigenetics and intergenerational trauma and their potential relevance to mitigation. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of how this emerging science may be used in defense advocacy.

Faculty

Tennie Martin

Attorney, Federal Public Defender

After being frustrated as a CPA, Tennie went to law school to become a public defender and has never looked back, She was at the Maricopa Co. Public Defender where she rose to Chief of Appeals before going onto wok at the Capital Habeas Unit at the Tampa Feederal Defender .

Donna Lee Elm

Attorney, Federal Public Defender

Donna Lee Elm was in the Maricopa County Public Defender Office for 12 years before going to the Phoenix Federal Defender Office. She later was appointed to be the Federal DEfender for the Middle DIstrict of Florida. Upone retirement, Donna does fedeeral appeals.

Thursday June 18, 2026 10:00am - 11:30am MST
Colonnade

Mitigation

CLE Hours 1.5

1:30pm MST

Work Smarter, Not Harder: Easy Editing Techniques for Better Legal Writing

Thursday June 18, 2026 1:30pm - 3:00pm MST

Colonnade

You don't need a writing lecture - you need tools you can use right now. This session teaches five fast, practical editing hacks that immediately make your writing clearer and more effective. You'll learn how to use simple Search & Replace patterns to fix passive voice, cut clutter, strengthen verbs, and improve clarity. These techniques are fast, easy to learn, and designed for lawyers who want to write better but don't have time to work on it.

Faculty

Dawnese Hustad

Attorney, Maricopa Co. Public Defender

Dawnese Hustad is a Capital Trial Attorney for the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. Before moving to trial work, Dawnese spent 8 years doing felony and capital appeals. Dawnese has represented indigent felony defendants in Maricopa County for all but one of her 19 years... Read More →

Thursday June 18, 2026 1:30pm - 3:00pm MST
Colonnade

Motion Practice

CLE Hours 1.5

3:15pm MST

Humanizing Your Client Through Mitigation in Non-Capital Cases

Thursday June 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:45pm MST

Colonnade

This course is designed to educate attorneys about rule 6.7 a which allows for mitigation to be paid for at county expense in non capital cases. It also delves into the purpose and scope of mitigation, statutory and non-statutory mitigation, when the best time is to bring a mitigation specialist into a case, and how clients and attorneys both benefit from mitigation.

Faculty

Sheri Castillo

Mitigation Specialist, On Your Side Mitigation

I started my career in 1995 when I began working as a surveillance officer with Maricopa County Adult Probation. After that I went to work as a Youth Corrections Officer at Adobe Mountain and then an Inmate Classification Counselor with the Maricopa County sheriff's Department before... Read More →

Thursday June 18, 2026 3:15pm - 4:45pm MST
Colonnade

Mitigation

CLE Hours 1.5

8:15am MST

10:00am MST

3:15pm MST

8:15am MST

10:00am MST

1:30pm MST

3:15pm MST

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