FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
Southern District of Texas
Criminal Justice Act Panel Training
United States Federal Courthouse
Jury Assembly Room
1701 W. Business Highway 83
McAllen, Texas
March 27, 2025
AGENDA
| 7:30 - 8:00 | Registration | (CLE hrs.) |
| 8:00 - 8:15 | Welcome Remarks Philip G. Gallagher, Federal Public Defender, S.D. TX Miguel A.A. (“Andy”) Nogueras, Supervisory Asst. Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX |
|
| 8:15 - 9:00 | Effective Sentencing Investigations and Presentations Judith Pena, AFPD Litigation Counsel, McAllen, TX Israel Nogueira, Mitigation Specialist, McAllen, TX |
(.75) |
| 9:00 - 9:30 | Nuts and Bolts of Getting out on Bond USPO Lorena Garza, Unites States Probation Officer, McAllen, TX |
(.50) |
| 9:30 - 10:00 | Breaking Down Guns – USSG § 2K2.1 Basics Philip G. Gallagher, Federal Public Defender, S.D. TX |
(.50) |
| 10:00 - 10:15 | Break | |
| 10:15 - 10:45 | The Duress Defense: Law & Practice Nathan Janis, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Brownsville, TX Roxana Trevino, Investigator, McAllen, TX |
(.50) |
| >10:45 - 11:45 | 404(b) Francisco Morales, Senior Litigation Counsel, Corpus Christi, TX |
(1.0) |
| 11:45 - 12:00 | CJA Representations Gerardo Montalvo, Criminal Justice Act Supervising Attorney, Houston, TX David Adler, Criminal Justice Act Panel Representative, Houston, TX |
(.25) |
| 12:00 - 1:00 | A View From the Bench (and Lunch) The Honorable Juan F. Alanis, United States Magistrate Judge, McAllen, TX The Honorable J. Scott Hacker, United States Magistrate Judge, McAllen, TX The Honorable Nadia S. Medrano, United States Magistrate Judge, McAllen, TX |
(.50) |
| 1:00 - 1:45 | Federal Sentencing Update Rachel Braver, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Corpus Christi, TX |
(.75) |
| 1:45 - 2:15 | Defending Drug Cases Juan Jose Becerra, Assistant Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX |
(.50) |
| 2:15 - 3:00 | The 4th Amendment at the Border Rikin Shah, Assistant Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX |
(.75) |
| 3:00 - 3:15 | Break | |
| :15 - 4:00 | Defending Immigration Cases Brian Buehler, Assistant Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX |
(.75) |
| 4:00 - 5:00 | Ethics Panel Sandra Zamora Zayas, First Assistant Federal Public Defender, Brownsville, TX Yvonne Gomez, Assistant Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX Jose Martinez, Jr., Assistant Federal Public Defender, McAllen, TX |
(1.0 Ethics) |
Pending approval for 7.75 hours of CLE credit (including 1.0 hrs. of legal ethics) by the State Bar of Texas MCLE Department. (Course No. 174268953)
This seminar is for attorneys eligible or seeking to become eligible to take CJA appointments.