The Office of the Federal Defender for the Eastern District of California is accepting applications for the position of Investigator in our Capital Habeas Unit (CHU) for its Sacramento Office. Our CHU can represent individuals on state or federal death rows in their federal habeas corpus (§ 2254 or § 2255) and ancillary proceedings. Our current clients are on Death Rows in California, Arizona, and Texas.
Sacramento is a city emanating a diverse and hopeful vibe reflective of California at-large. Throughout the year, the city is home to an abundance of cultural festivals, art shows, and displays of activism. We have a dynamic LGBTQ+ community whose pride celebrations are embraced city-wide. We boast the largest Mardi Gras parade in the US outside of New Orleans. Most of Sacramento’s ever-expanding dining and entertainment scene is within walking and biking distance of our Office. It is a lovely place to work and to live.
Primary Job Duties: CHU investigators perform extensive fact and mitigation investigations. This includes:
• Familiarizing themselves with massive case files (including police reports, prior legal proceedings, trial transcripts, and expert and lay reports) and identifying potential avenues of investigation/sources of information;
• Locating, interviewing, and drafting declarations of fact, mitigation or trial error witnesses, including the client’s family, friends, teachers, employers, and service providers, as well as eyewitnesses, alibi witnesses, and jurors;
• Crafting exhaustive, multi-generational psychosocial histories for our clients by gathering and interpreting records, such as medical, social services, vital records, education, employment, court, military, and law enforcement;
• Building a strong rapport with both our clients and their essential mitigation witnesses through frequent visits and contact.
• Demonstrated commitment to compassionate, comprehensive, and culturally sensitive criminal defense investigations;
• A willingness to acquire and develop knowledge of mental health issues/cognitive deficits/competency issues to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental disorders;
• Capacity to work both independently and within a team while possessing a high degree of initiative, creativity, and problem-solving ability;
• Above-average organizational ability and written and oral communication skills;
• Familiarity with people locator sites such as TLO, Accurint, and CLEAR;
• Frequent and extensive travel within California, across the United States, and occasionally to foreign countries;
• Flexibility for some evening and weekend work (compensatory time is available);
• Possess a valid California driver’s license (or ability to obtain one) and an insured vehicle (our Office can approve rental cars);
• Spanish language fluency a plus;
• Must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident in the process of applying for citizenship.
Selected candidate will be subject to a background check as an employment condition.
To apply, please submit as a single PDF your cover letter, résumé, three references and a completed Application for Judicial Branch Employment form (AO78), http://www.cae-fpd.org/AO_78.pdf, to: [email protected]
Position announced on 3/11/2024 and is open until filled. Preference given to applications received by 4/1/2024.