University of Maryland Department of Communication COMM386: Experiential Learning Fall, 2013 POINT PAPER CANVASSING

Rebecca Wells September 13, 2013

Subject. This was my first official week at my internship. My partner and I were on our own and spent most of our time organizing case files and preparing for on the field tasks. Background. At the start of our internship, we were informed of four major cases our Staff Attorney was working on that we would be working on as well. Each of these cases is in a different stage and requires different tasks. Discussion. One particular case we were assigned required us to interview witnesses. This meant we needed to look up the witness to find their address, review any prior criminal charges, and see what connection they have to the case. An important distinction I needed to make was to figure out if the witness to be interviewed was a witness for the Defense or the Prosecution. This is important because whichever side the witness is working for determines if I am allowed to take notes during the interview. This is a process called Jencks. Jencks states that the Prosecution is entitled to all notes taken while interviewing a witness. I was taught not to take any notes during interviews with Defense Witnesses to ensure the Prosecution will not have access to them. For this particular case, my partner and I were given a previous address for a witness and were told to canvass the area. Canvassing is when we go door-to-door speaking to neighbors and gathering intel on an individual. After canvassing the area, my partner and I went back to PDS and typed up memos for each neighbor we interviewed. We also filled out a canvassing log that listed each house visited as well as if each visit was a success or not. We also had to draw an outline of the neighborhood for the Attorney and Investigators reference. Recommendations. This week was a little scary because I did not know what to expect. I had spent the previous two weeks having information thrown at me and then I had one short week (which flew by) to work with the previous intern and figure out how to apply what I had learned. Having to actually go out on the field on my own was a little over whelming and I was nervous that no one would take me seriously. While I originally saw this as a problem, I think it actually helped me in the end because it forced me to learn quickly and gain confidence in my ability.