Prosecution Principles: A Clinical Handbook

by George R. Dekle Sr.

This handbook explores every aspect of the prosecutor’s multiple roles, relating them to commonly encountered real-world situations and giving pragmatic guidance for dealing with those situations. It investigates the history, theory, and philosophy of prosecution and provides the student with a conceptual framework for employing sound techniques of ethical prosecutorial advocacy. By looking at each stage of the criminal prosecution from the unique vantage point of the prosecutor, it enables students to receive maximum benefit from the clinical setting and prepares them for the efficient discharge of their duties as entry-level prosecutors.

419 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2007

About the author

George R. (Bob) Dekle, Sr., served as a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, where he directed the Prosecution Clinic from January of 2006 to June of 2016 and taught both Prosecutorial Ethics and Florida Criminal Procedure. Upon retiring he was voted emeritus status by the Law School faculty.

Before coming to the University of Florida, Mr. Dekle served from 1975 through 2005 as an Assistant State Attorney for the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida, prosecuting almost every imaginable type of case, from criminal mischief to capital murder. In 1986 he received the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association's Gene Barry Memorial Award as the outstanding assistant state attorney in the state. In 1996 and again in 2003 he received distinguished faculty awards from the association's education committee, and upon his retirement in 2005, he was given a lifetime achievement award for his efforts in continuing legal education for prosecutors. Mr. Dekle has served as faculty at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, and has lectured to prosecutor's associations across the nation. Before becoming a prosecutor, Mr. Dekle served from 1973 to 1975 as an Assistant Public Defender in the Third Judicial Circuit.