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Murder on Birchleaf Drive: Trial Strategy for True Crime Lovers

Murder on Birchleaf Drive is the true crime story of the Michelle Young murder case.

As the back cover reads:

"To the outside world, Jason and Michelle Young lived a storybook life - an attractive couple with great jobs, a beautiful home, a precocious two-year-old daughter, and a baby boy on the way.

Soon after the 29-year-old pregnant mother's brutally beaten body was discovered on their bedroom floor, a very different picture emerged. Of a marriage crumbling at its foundation. Of a meddlesome New York mother-in-law whose running critique left Jason frustrated and angry. Of a 32-year-old man who behaved like a frat boy rebelling against adult responsibilities.

Was Jason the monster who bludgeoned his beautiful wife to death, leaving his toddler alone for hours to walk through her blood? If so, would he get away with it?"

Following intense law enforcement and forensic work focused on solving the crime, the case of State v. Young was tried twice, each time producing a different result: a hung jury in 2011 and then a unanimous guilty verdict in 2012. Prosecutors Howard Cummings, Becky Holt, and David Saacks from the Wake County District Attorney's Office faced off against Bryan Collins and Mike Klinkosum from the Wake County Public Defender's Office. Both trials involved carefully crafted trial strategies and excellent lawyering.

Through examination and analysis of those trial techniques, Steven B. Epstein - author of Murder on Birchleaf Drive: The True Story of the Michelle Young Murder Case - offers invaluable insight and skillful tactics for winning your case. Epstein teases out several lessons, focusing on trial strategy, opening statements, cross-examination of lay and expert witnesses, closing arguments, and winning trial themes that can be applied to both criminal and civil trial work.

INCLUDED SESSIONS

  • Trial Strategy
  • Winning Themes

SPEAKERS

  • Steven B. "Steve" Epstein, Poyner Spruill LLP, Raleigh

PRODUCED
January 10, 2020

PLANNED BY
NCBA CLE Department

APPROVED CREDIT
North Carolina: 3.00 MCLE/CPE Hours

Qualifies for NC State Bar Criminal Law Specialization

PROGRAM PRICING
See pricing below. Discounts may be available for NCBA members who are students, law professors, judges or legal services/public interest attorneys. Call CLE at 800.228.3402 for details.