Professor Mark M. Dobson is 2006 Washburn Advocacy Scholar in Residence

Photograph: Mark M. Dobson.Professor Mark M. Dobson from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center was the 2006 Washburn Advocacy Scholar in Residence when he visited Washburn Law from March 13-17, 2006. During his visit Professor Dobson gave a public lecture titled "A Kansas Murder Trial and the U.S. Supreme Court: The Historic Trials of Clyde Mattox" (see below for video and details).

The following presentations by Professor Dobson are available for viewing (require Windows Media Player).

See also a gallery of photos from Professor Dobson's visit.

Mark M. Dobson, Nova Southeastern's Outstanding Professor in 2004, administers Nova's Criminal Justice Clinic and teaches mainly in the field of litigation and advocacy including Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Trial Advocacy and Evidence courses. In addition to Nova Southeastern, Professor Dobson has taught at Loyola University, Chicago, Touro University, University of North Dakota,Washburn Law and Willamette University.

Professor Dobson was a prosecutor for counties in Kansas and Florida, including Dade County, Fla., and worked as a legal aid attorney in Wichita and Philadelphia. While at both North Dakota and Nova Southeastern law schools, Professor Dobson established the schools' trial advocacy programs. In 1981, he was awarded the American College of Trial Lawyers Emil Gumpert Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy.

Professor Dobson earned a bachelor's degree in history from Georgetown University; his J.D. from Catholic University School of Law,Washington, D.C.; and his LL.M. from Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, as the Honorable Abraham L. Freedman Fellow in Legal Education. He has published extensively in the areas of evidence and criminal practice and is a past chair of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Committee on Defense and Prosecution of Drunk Driving Cases.

Public Lecture Details

Thumbnail: 2006 Advocacy Scholar in Residence brochure cover.A Kansas Murder Trial and the U.S. Supreme Court: The Historic Trials of Clyde Mattox will be given Thursday, March 16, 2006 at 7 p.m. Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center. For more information contact: Mary Beth Bero at (785) 670-2460.

The trials of Clyde Mattox for murder, in the Wichita Federal District Court during the 1890s, are part of a fascinating murder story that reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice and have helped shape current Supreme Court decisions. Mattox was tried in Kansas for a murder committed in Oklahoma City in 1889. During the decade of the 1890s, the Mattox murder case was the focus of widespread public attention in both Oklahoma and Kansas. Mattox's case eventually led to major Supreme Court opinions on evidence law and on the Sixth Amendment's Confrontation Clause.

Murder was not unknown on the frontier or in the Indian Territory in the 1890's, but the events in Mattox's case were extremely compelling and still attract the interest of judges, lawyers and legal scholars.

Professor Mark M. Dobson, a noted litigation and advocacy teacher with a personal interest in American history and notable trials and trial lawyers, will examine and discuss this fascinating landmark in Supreme Court case history.

Download and view the brochure created for Professor Dobson's visit (1.2 MB PDF; requires Adobe Acrobat reader.