For Immediate Release
Contact: Public Relations 404-969-4001

Monday, July 16, 2007
Sachdeva Completes Basic Litigation Training

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia (PAC) presented its Annual Basic Litigation Training Course from June 23-29, 2007 in Forsyth, Georgia at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC). Fifty-three newly hired prosecutors from across the state participated in an intensive six-day seminar. The course is devoted to in-depth lecture sessions as well as workshops that give prosecutors with little or no courtroom experience an opportunity to hone their skills.

 Shiv Sachdeva, assistant district attorney of the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, completed this year’s training. He has been an assistant district attorney for 7 months. The son of Mahesh and Anjana Sachdeva of Atlanta, Georgia, Sachdeva graduated from the Modern School in India in 1998 and the University of Georgia in 2002. He then graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2006.

 “I chose this career field because I am interested in criminal law and litigation. Also, being a prosecutor gives me an opportunity to use my law degree to do good for society,” said Sachdeva.

At the Basic Litigation Course, students are taught by seasoned prosecutors who serve as faculty members and use their years of experience to train and educate the less experienced prosecutors. Faculty members place a significant emphasis on the development of “Theory” and “Theme” based prosecution. And, with a faculty to student ratio of nearly 1-to-1, the Basic Litigation Course conducted in Georgia continues to be one of the most effective courses of its kind.

During the week - long training, students attended lectures and workshops on legal subjects such as: opening statements, direct examination , introduction of evidence, use of demonstrative aids, cross examination and impeachment, hearsay, motions, similar transactions and character evidence, expert witness, and closing arguments. The course culminated in a mock trial conducted in front of a volunteer jury.

 “All of the topics we discussed play a critical role in the development of a trial,” said Sachdeva. “ During opening statement instruction, I learned that many jurors make up their minds by the end of opening statements, so it essential to make a strong one. It should be precise, give details of the charges against the defendant, convey the theory and theme for your case and grab the jury’s attention from the very onset.”

Sachdeva discovered that cross examination was the most challenging part of the course. “The most important aspect of cross examination is controlling your witness,” said Sachdeva. “This is the attorney’s chance to ask leading questions and get the case theory and theme across to the jury. It was the most challenging part of training because I had to find ways to poke holes in the other side’s story. It was also a challenge to maintain a balance between being too passive or too aggressive with the other side’s witness. If a prosecutor is too passive, he or she may not get his or her point across. But if the prosecutor is too aggressive, the situation could turn too confrontational and he or she could end up looking bad in front of the jury,” said Sachdeva.

Sachdeva also had the opportunity to test what he learned about evidence and demonstrative aids. “You have to lay a strong foundation before exhibits in a case can be introduced. From there, exhibits are marked, identified and their relevance is explained,” said Sachdeva. “I also learned about the importance of visual aids. Jurors are much more likely to understand the case if there are visual aids. This was amply shown when my trial partner and I won our jury trial mainly because we used demonstrative aids (a blown up diagram of the crime scene) during direct examination as well as closing arguments.”

Sachdeva said he plans to incorporate his new skills on the job. “I am more confident as a result of the training because I learned new trial techniques,” said Sachdeva. “The whole theory and theme-based approach to a trial is something new to me that I am going to incorporate at work. When I do have a trial, I will come up with the theory and theme for my case and hammer that theme to the jury right from jury selection to closing arguments.”

Sachdeva believes that his law school education and Basic Litigation Training have prepared him to be a prosecutor. “Law school did prepare me for the real world mainly because I was part of the Prosecutorial Clinic Program at the University of Georgia School of Law. The program had two components: lectures and internship. The lectures focused on criminal procedure and evidence from the prosecutor’s perspective. In addition, I interned at the District Attorney’s office in Athens for four semesters, which gave me real world experience and allowed me to apply what I had learned during the lectures to actual cases and situations. I would definitely recommend the Basic Litigation Training Course to others, especially new prosecutors. It gives new prosecutors an invaluable opportunity to learn new trial techniques and the opportunity to practice those techniques,” said Sachdeva.

The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia presents its Basic Litigation Training Course to new prosecutors every June.