The reference librarians at the Ross-Blakley Law Library are happy to help you find or navigate research resources. Librarians are available 9am-4pm Monday-Thursday and 9am-2pm on Friday.
Currently, the Law Library can only be accessed in-person by College of Law students, faculty, and staff, in compliance with the University's COVID-19 pandemic safety policies.
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Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (COL) Students
You can search for resources in the ASU Library collection related to criminal law, post-conviction justice, public defense, and prosecution in the ASU Library catalog by using subject headings such as: Criminal law-United States; Public defenders-United States; and Prosecution-United States.
Criminal Practice Manual (Westlaw password required)
The Criminal Practice Manual is a practitioner-focused resource that provides overviews and analysis of criminal law topics. It has extensive practice guidance including court documents, checklists, tactics, and explanations. This resource is available on Westlaw.
Arizona Practice Series
The Arizona Practice Series is a 14-volume set published by Thomson Reuters that is written for Arizona practitioners and provides explanations of legal topics, tips for client representation, and citations to relevant statues, cases, and other primary sources. The print set is located in the Reference Collection of the library, near the Reference Desk, and is kept current. All volumes are also available on Westlaw (Westlaw password required).
Criminal Procedure – Arizona Legal Forms
Criminal Procedure is Volume 7 of the Arizona Legal Forms set. The volume has forms for all actions authorized under the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure as well as commentary on the forms. Maricopa County and Pima County Superior Court forms are also included. The print set is located in the Reference Collection of the library, near the Reference Desk, and is kept current. All volumes are also available on Westlaw (Westlaw password required).
Arizona DUI Trial Notebook (Bruce H. Chalk, Christina Cabanillas, C. Daniel Carrion & Daniel S. Jurkowitz)
This volume covers issues such as the constitutionality of DUI statutes, the stop, contact, testing, pretrial, trial, post-trial, and miscellaneous issues. The appendices include DUI laws, relevant regulations, sample voir dire questions, sample questions for officers and experts, DUI jury instructions, and a table of authorities.
Arizona Jury Instructions—Criminal (Lexis login required)
Includes standard and statutory jury instructions, non-criminal instructions, non-capital aggravating circumstances instructions, and capital case sentencing instructions
Revised Arizona Jury Instructions (Criminal)
Includes standard instructions, with sources, use notes, and comments.
Court Dockets on Bloomberg Law (Bloomberg Law password required)
Bloomberg Law provides access to state (including the Maricopa County Superior Court) and federal docket information. Case dockets provide valuable information about the legal issues and events of a case and the people involved, including the judge, attorneys, and parties. Generally, docket information will be most useful for researching trials.
Criminal Justice Abstracts
This database provides access to articles in journals related to criminal justice.
Lexis Law 360: Criminal Law (Lexis password required)
The Lexis Criminal Law Practice page provides direct access to federal and state criminal cases, federal criminal statutes, briefs, pleadings, and motions from criminal law cases, as well as relevant secondary sources and news.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) is a federally funded resource offering reports, journals, statistics, and other information on subjects relating to criminology, criminal justice, substance abuse, corrections, police, and crime victims.
Westlaw Criminal Law page (Westlaw password required)
The Westlaw Criminal Law page provides direct links to a criminal law case search, a listing of federal and state criminal law statutes, a listing of federal and state criminal law regulations, and subject-specific secondary materials that include treatises articles, forms, and newsletters.
ABA Criminal Justice Section
The Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association provides access to general criminal law resources on its website, as well as resources pertaining to specific fields of criminal law, through the Resources tab of its homepage.
Arizona Court Rules
Westlaw provides free access to an unannotated version of the Arizona Court Rules.
CrimProf Blog
CrimProf Blog, a member of the Law Professor Blog Network, is edited by criminal law professors at the University of San Diego School of Law. The blog provides news and analysis of criminal law topics.
State Bar of Arizona Criminal Justice Section
The Criminal Justice Section of the Arizona State Bar Association provides link to a number of criminal law resources, including Arizona-specific resources, on its Criminal Justice Resources page.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure: Post-Conviction Relief
Title VII concerns post-conviction procedures for federal defendants. They are available at:
Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure
Rules 31 and 32 concern appeals and post-conviction relief after criminal convictions. They are available at:
American Bar Association: Post Conviction Remedies
The ABA provides guidance for policymakers and practitioners on post-conviction practice.
Arizona Courts: Post-Conviction Relief
Information on the process and time limits, as well as templates for forms defendants and counsel file when seeking relief in the state.
National Post-Conviction Project
This group dedicated to assisting with post-conviction relief efforts provides information and template forms for federal defendants and counsel.
Postconviction Remedies (Brian R. Means, 2019)
This two volume treatise explains the rules of postconviction review and related legal issues, including jurisdictional issues, timing, and court rules. Also available on Westlaw (Westlaw password required).
State Postconviction Remedies and Relief Handbook (Donald E. Wilkes, Jr., 2019)
This treatise collects and explains the law and court rules governing postconviction remedies in the states. Volume 1 includes Arizona, and Volume 4 includes templates for filing claims for postconviction relief in the states, including Arizona.
Another Bite at the Apple: A Guide to Section 2255 Motions for Federal Prisoners (Janice Bermann, 2009)
This book explains the federal statute governing postconviction remedies and related statutes governing review of criminal convictions. It also explains timing and jurisdiction issues, cases and other law defining the scope of available relief, and proceedings in the court system.