Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tami Napier: Educator with IPAC
Taking on the burden of proof to alleviate the burden for victims
“In order to seek justice appropriately for victims of highly traumatizing crimes, it is incumbent on us as prosecutors to put in the work to know how to advocate that case properly. That is a continuing quest for me, I always try to be better, I always want to improve. But I also want to share what I know with other prosecutors because I think that all victims, no matter where they live, deserve that.” — Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tami Napier
MARSHALL COUNTY — Chief Deputy Prosecuting attorney Tami Napier serves on the Indiana Prosecuting attorney’s Council (IPAC). IPAC is a non-partisan, independent state judicial branch agency which was created by Indiana State statute in 1973. It consists of over 90 prosecuting attorneys and their chief deputies. The body is governed by a 10 member Board of Directors chosen from among the state’s prosecuting attorneys.
Napier serves on a state wide board of six prosecutors that work specifically every year to focus efforts on teaching other prosecutors how to properly screen, file and try domestic violence cases, child molest cases, rape cases, or any other kind of sexual assault cases. Since that area of prosecution is very specialized prosecutorial work; it requires special training.
Napier places high priority on the safety of the community. “I want to feel safe in my community. Part of that is me passing on what I’ve learned from other people. You aren’t born with this information. I had a mentor too and other people that I learned from through the course of my career.”
Not all prosecutors have the opportunity to gain sufficient professional experience, particularly in the area of traumatic and violent crimes, to gain the experience they need to advocate for victims when they do arise. “It’s really important for prosecutors to understand how to try a case and to do it ethically, to do it responsibly, and to do it in a way that respects the system that we operate in. and respect the fact that every defendant is constitutionally, federally and state, entitled to a jury trial. This is actually what we get paid for is trying cases. The fact that we resolve some through plea agreements is great. I can’t imagine an overwhelmed system where every case went to trial, but some cases have to go to trial and if they do - you need to know how to do that.”
Napier teaches two classes, “Evidence Boot Camp” and “Trial advocacy”. She feels as if the opportunity to educate through IPAC helps her share beyond her own role in Marshall County to make peo
“There are certain personality and character traits that are essential to a solid trial attorney and particularly a chief deputy prosecutor assigned the most serious cases. Those include steadfastness and the ability to remain unflappable in stressful situations, particularly with adversaries whose objective is to unnerve you. I sensed Tami fit that bill upon our first meeting. She immediately became and remains an indispensable member of our prosecution team.” — Marshall County Prosecutor E. Nelson Chipman Jr.
ple, families and communities across the state safer and giving back not only to her community, but to the state. “This teaching really fills that for me as giving back. Giving back is a huge part of why this job is so appealing to me. It’s really not a job. To call it a job is not right. It’s really a calling. It really is. Every person I meet through work is a victim in a case.”
She has taught Evidence Boot Camp for IPAC four years now. “Evidence Boot Camp is for new prosecutors. That can be your brand new deputy right out of law school who doesn’t know how to get a photograph into evidence, not really sure how many jurors are going to be on their jury or what to ask them to try to pick a jury. It goes all the way up. I have had people in Evidence Boot Camp every year that are newly elected prosecutors. They are leading their office and they’ve never tried a case. They got elected but they have no experience trying criminal cases. This is their way to learn that in a mock setting from people who have experience.”
Napier described it as a “wonderful program”. “The Indiana Rules of Evidence are very particular about how you get evidence in to a trial. You have to know those foundational questions and stylistic things that are associated with that.”
The State of Indiana carries the burden of proof in every case. “We, as the State of Indiana, carry the burden in any case. When we take a case to trial, the State of Indiana has the burden of proof, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt each and every element of every crime charged against the defendant. The defendant has a burden to do nothing; nothing at all. They are, in fact, cloaked with the presumption of innocence throughout the trial. As the defendant sits in trial, the jury gets instructions from the court that say that the fact that he’s been charged is not to be held against him. He sits here an innocent person. It is the burden of the State to prove the case. Period. The defense attorney has no burden to do anything. They can sit there the whole time and never ask a question, never make an argument, never say a word and they’ve done their job because they don’t have a burden, at all.”
This year, due to the pandemic, Napier worked with Whitley County Chief Deputy Prosecutor D. J. Sigler to teach Evidence Boot Camp virtually from their offices. The team taught eight students from eight different counties; each with different skill levels. Remotely, the students were provided with a fact pattern, questioned on how they would get evidence, suggest issues that defense might argue, illustrate potential issues with having the evidence accepted, and ask why each prosecutor would want that evidence entered.
Napier said most of Indiana consists of counties smaller than Marshall County. The class offers prosecutors an opportunity to engage with other professionals and ask those questions and glean wisdom from those instructing them through the course of the training.
Napier also teaches Trial Advocacy. Murder cases, child molest cases, and sexual / domestic violence cases require addition, specialized training. “The Trial Advocacy class is great. To effectively prosecute a domestic violence case or sexual assault case, you need some specialized training. The fact that those trainings are booked solid with wait lists every year tells you the value that prosecutors put on how to try those cases. They require something else from us—elevated skills—to meet our burden and present the case to the jury .”
The class looks holistically at the trial process over a period of three or four days. “Trial Advocacy is a mock scenario of every component of the trail process from screening, to deciding what to file if you are going to file, through strategy decisions, pitfalls that prosecutors can encounter with regard to ethical issues, etc. We also teach jury selection; how to pick a jury based on what the facts of the case are.”
Jury selection is challenging because prosecutors are not allowed to talk about the facts of the case so they have to speak in hypotheticals.
Napier gave the following example, “In a child molest case, typically your only evidence is the child. That’s it. So you have to ask people questions about that. What kind of evidence do you expect? If you don’t get that evidence, can you still convict? Would it surprise you that in the State of Indiana the testimony of one witness can sustain a conviction on appeal? Period. If you believe the child; can you convict? Asking people those questions because you need to know whether an individual citizen can be on the jury, follow the law, listen to the evidence and remain fair and impartial.”
It is critical, especially in cases like these, for prosecutors to be able to ask the right questions of the jury to determine if the testimony of a child against their abuser would be enough to find them guilty.
She covers the importance of understanding counter-intuitive victim behavior. “Why would a victim behave a certain way in a traumatic event? Everyone seems to have a preconceived notion of what they personally might do in a situation. Then, they try to imagine themselves in the situation and if the victim isn’t behaving
“What does Maya Angelou tell us? Maya Angelou says you do the best you can with what you know at the time. When you know better, you do better. That really encapsulates my hope for human kind. Do the best with what you have right now. But, when you know better, do better. It’s really quite that simple.” — Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tami Napier
in a way that is consistent with that; it can effect the way they interpret their testimony or how they perceive the victim. That’s part of jury selection process, asking those questions about counter intuitive victim behavior. Not everyone is going to sit on the stand and uncontrollably sob about trauma. They are at a different stage of healing by the time the case goes to trial. It’s a very uncomfortable topic for us to talk about. In particular in front of a room of people they don’t know.”
State law in Indiana recognizes that a child’s testimony against their sexual abuser is enough to convict but the jury must believe that child and believe that the testimony of that child is enough to find them guilty. “The case law says, and I quote, because I’ve said this a lot at trial, ‘The testimony of a single eye witness is sufficient to sustain a conviction.’ Because in child molest cases in particular they always appeal on sufficiency; ‘all they had was testimony’. All the case law, black letter law, so that if you believe the child, I’ve met my burden.”
Napier said the model for this class is beneficial because it helps prosecutors practice what they are learning; not only hear a lecture or be exposed to material. “Teaching people in a practical setting not only demonstrates what the concepts mean but puts it in action. Being able to share with similarly committed prosecutors is an exchange of experience and knowledge. These trainings are not just anecdotal stories. They’re putting the rules to work; how they will actually operate. Because I can sit here and tell you how to ride a bike, but until you actually get on a bike and go do it; you don’t know. The more you do it the more comfortable you get. You learn tricks from other people you ride bikes with as a kid, right? That’s no different in your professional career. You want to develop those skills.”
As the class continues, prosecutors are brought through all the elements of the mock trial to closing and rebuttal. Overall it’s important for prosecutors to understand victimology. “It is important for prosecutors to understand victimology and what I mean when I say that is it’s important for prosecutors to understand victim behavior. In particular, victim behavior that seems inconsistent with what they are saying.”
Not only does Napier teach from her deep well of experience, she also benefits from the networking opportunity provided by the experience. She learns something new from each class and interaction. “Teaching new prosecutors, whether they are newly elected that have never tried a case, or a brand new deputy straight out of law school is a good thing for me. I like to share what I’ve learned. I’ve learned a lot from other lawyers. It’s a symbiotic relationship to me.”
Napier is thankful for the support she is given from Marshall County Prosecutor E. Nelson Chipman Jr. and the Marshall County Prosecution Team. “When they invited me to start teaching; which takes time, you are out of the office because these are conference settings. Nelson supported me in that. It’s a good networking opportunity. But I have learned that I learn as much from working with the students as I do being faculty at these trainings.”
As the other deputies cover her absence, Napier brings back what she has learned to the office. “I learn something every time I go. I learn something at every jury trial I have. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been rewarding. I feel like by having the opportunity, by having Nelson’s approval to be gone from the office several times a year to go teach and train, I bring back things I’ve learned and share with the other deputies here.”