Professor of Law, Emeritus, Washington and Lee University School of Law
David Bruck directed Washington and Lee's death penalty defense clinic, the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, from 2004 to 2020. Prior to coming to W&L, Bruck practiced criminal law in South Carolina for 28 years, and specialized in the defense of capital cases at the trial, appellate and post-conviction stages. Over the course of his career, he has served as Richland County (Columbia, S.C.) Public Defender, as Chief Attorney of the South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, and since 1992 as Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel to the federal defender system nationwide.
Bruck has argued seven death penalty cases in the United States Supreme Court, including Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986), and Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), and over 70 capital appeals in state and lower federal courts. He has represented capital defendants at trial in more than 20 cases, including State v. Susan Smith (1995), in which he and co-counsel Judy Clarke obtained a life sentence after their client was convicted of drowning her two small children.
Bruck has testified before U.S. Congressional committees on death penalty-related legislation on nine occasions, has presented CLE trainings and federal judicial workshops on capital litigation in more than thirty states and U.S. territories, and since 2005 has served as Chair of the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training. In 1996 the ABA Section of Litigation selected Bruck to receive the John Minor Wisdom Public Service & Professionalism Award, and in 2001 he received the Significant Contributions to Criminal Justice Award from the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.
Retired Assistant United States Attorney
Steve Mellin is a recently retired federal prosecutor. He worked for the Department of Justice for over 30 years in offices all over the United States. His career focused on prosecuting violent criminals, including terrorism and death penalty homicide cases. While working in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Mellin was involved in the 9-11 terrorism investigations and prosecutions. While at Main Justice, he worked on numerous death penalty cases across the US, culminated his terrorism work with the successful prosecution of the Boston Marathon bomber.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Texas and George Mason University School of Law.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Member, Ifrah Law
After 27 years as a prosecutor, James (“Jim”) Trusty brings to Ifrah Law extensive experience in complex, multi-district white collar litigation, especially in matters involving RICO, The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986.
Jim has represented a wide variety of individuals and corporations in the white-collar space. He regularly represents professional athletes, both criminally and civilly, and during 2022 and 2023 he represented President Trump during pre-indictment litigation relating to the Mar-a-Lago and January 6 cases.
Prior to joining Ifrah Law, Jim had a long career in public service, most recently as Chief of the Organized Crime Section at the United States Department of Justice. For seven years, Jim was ultimately responsible for investigating and prosecuting regional, national, and international cases, supervising significant pleadings, and providing strategic and tactical guidance in investigations and multi-defendant trials. In addition to running the RICO Review Unit, which reviewed and approved all criminal RICO cases brought by federal prosecutors, he also was in charge of establishing and promoting policies focused on immigration reform, firearms trafficking, proposed Congressional testimony for DOJ officials, and internet gambling. Significant and sensitive matters on which he worked include the post-conviction review of the Alaska corruption case related to U.S. v. Theodore Stevens and the investigation into allegations of misconduct by a sitting U.S. Attorney and one of her subordinates.
Prior to his work at DOJ, Jim acted as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of white-collar and other criminal cases, including The Washington area Sniper investigation. He also prosecuted three death penalty cases and was a member of the Attorney General’s Capital Review Committee, responsible for assessing capital-eligible cases such as the Boston Marathon Bomber and the Charleston Church massacre.
In 2018, Jim was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on The Task Force to Study Maryland’s Criminal Gang Statutes. The Task Force assessed the efficacy of existing state laws as they apply to gang-related criminal activity in the state and presented its findings and recommendations to the Governor.
Professor of Law, Emeritus, Washington and Lee University School of Law
David Bruck directed Washington and Lee's death penalty defense clinic, the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, from 2004 to 2020. Prior to coming to W&L, Bruck practiced criminal law in South Carolina for 28 years, and specialized in the defense of capital cases at the trial, appellate and post-conviction stages. Over the course of his career, he has served as Richland County (Columbia, S.C.) Public Defender, as Chief Attorney of the South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, and since 1992 as Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel to the federal defender system nationwide.
Bruck has argued seven death penalty cases in the United States Supreme Court, including Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986), and Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), and over 70 capital appeals in state and lower federal courts. He has represented capital defendants at trial in more than 20 cases, including State v. Susan Smith (1995), in which he and co-counsel Judy Clarke obtained a life sentence after their client was convicted of drowning her two small children.
Bruck has testified before U.S. Congressional committees on death penalty-related legislation on nine occasions, has presented CLE trainings and federal judicial workshops on capital litigation in more than thirty states and U.S. territories, and since 2005 has served as Chair of the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training. In 1996 the ABA Section of Litigation selected Bruck to receive the John Minor Wisdom Public Service & Professionalism Award, and in 2001 he received the Significant Contributions to Criminal Justice Award from the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.
Retired Assistant United States Attorney
Steve Mellin is a recently retired federal prosecutor. He worked for the Department of Justice for over 30 years in offices all over the United States. His career focused on prosecuting violent criminals, including terrorism and death penalty homicide cases. While working in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Mellin was involved in the 9-11 terrorism investigations and prosecutions. While at Main Justice, he worked on numerous death penalty cases across the US, culminated his terrorism work with the successful prosecution of the Boston Marathon bomber.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Texas and George Mason University School of Law.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Member, Ifrah Law
After 27 years as a prosecutor, James (“Jim”) Trusty brings to Ifrah Law extensive experience in complex, multi-district white collar litigation, especially in matters involving RICO, The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986.
Jim has represented a wide variety of individuals and corporations in the white-collar space. He regularly represents professional athletes, both criminally and civilly, and during 2022 and 2023 he represented President Trump during pre-indictment litigation relating to the Mar-a-Lago and January 6 cases.
Prior to joining Ifrah Law, Jim had a long career in public service, most recently as Chief of the Organized Crime Section at the United States Department of Justice. For seven years, Jim was ultimately responsible for investigating and prosecuting regional, national, and international cases, supervising significant pleadings, and providing strategic and tactical guidance in investigations and multi-defendant trials. In addition to running the RICO Review Unit, which reviewed and approved all criminal RICO cases brought by federal prosecutors, he also was in charge of establishing and promoting policies focused on immigration reform, firearms trafficking, proposed Congressional testimony for DOJ officials, and internet gambling. Significant and sensitive matters on which he worked include the post-conviction review of the Alaska corruption case related to U.S. v. Theodore Stevens and the investigation into allegations of misconduct by a sitting U.S. Attorney and one of her subordinates.
Prior to his work at DOJ, Jim acted as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of white-collar and other criminal cases, including The Washington area Sniper investigation. He also prosecuted three death penalty cases and was a member of the Attorney General’s Capital Review Committee, responsible for assessing capital-eligible cases such as the Boston Marathon Bomber and the Charleston Church massacre.
In 2018, Jim was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on The Task Force to Study Maryland’s Criminal Gang Statutes. The Task Force assessed the efficacy of existing state laws as they apply to gang-related criminal activity in the state and presented its findings and recommendations to the Governor.
Emerging Issues in Federal Death Penalty Litigation
David Bruck, Steve Mellin, Johnny Sutton, James Trusty
Recent federal prosecutions have renewed attention on the administration and future of the federal death...
Emerging Issues in Federal Death Penalty Litigation
David Bruck, Steve Mellin, Johnny Sutton, James Trusty
Recent federal prosecutions have renewed attention on the administration and future of the federal death...