Buried in Discovery? How One Defense Team Fought Back and Won
A conversational style real homicide case study on jail calls, surveillance video, and last-minute data dumps. We’ll walk through what worked, what didn’t, and how we handled massive discovery dumps without losing the thread of the defense strategy.
Friday, March 20th, 1:00 PM EST
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Zoom call
About the webinar
In this 60-minute live conversation, Bernadette Armand and Kevann Gardner will join me (Maya Reisman) to walk through a real homicide case they tried together. The government’s theory rested on grainy surveillance video and a compromised witness. There was no physical evidence. Just a mountain of digital files.
We’ll talk about how we challenged the prosecution’s story using frame-by-frame video review, how we handled thousands of pages of records and hundreds of jail calls that came in mid-trial, and how we found key impeachment material when we needed it most. We’ll also share how getting control of the evidence changed our strategy and helped us keep our footing when the pressure was high.
This will be a candid conversation between former colleagues who have stood at counsel table together. We’ll share what worked, what didn’t, and what it felt like to stay steady while the discovery kept coming.
Skill level: All levels
Format: Live discussion + Q&A
Our speakers
Bernadette Armand, Esq.
Founder @ Bernadette Armand Law
Bernadette Armand, Esq. is an accomplished trial attorney with extensive experience litigating complex criminal cases and high-stakes civil rights matters. She is the founder of Bernadette Armand Law, a Washington, D.C.-based firm dedicated to challenging injustices in the criminal justice system, the workplace, and the community. Her practice focuses on criminal defense, employment law, and civil rights litigation, including systemic challenges to government and institutional misconduct.
Prior to establishing her private practice, Ms. Armand served as a Supervisory Trial Attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS). She has also served as Senior Counsel at DiCello Levitt, where she expanded the firm’s D.C. presence and focused on civil and human rights litigation. A formidable presence in the courtroom, she is known for her rigorous advocacy regarding exculpatory evidence and government accountability.
Kevann A. Gardner, Esq.
Founding partner @ K. Gardner Law LLC
Kevann A. Gardner, Esq. is a seasoned trial attorney with over fifteen years of experience litigating serious felony and misdemeanor criminal cases. He is the founding partner of K. Gardner Law LLC, where his practice focuses on homicide, attempted homicide, and first-degree sexual assault cases. His firm also handles civil litigation throughout New York, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Prior to founding his firm, Mr. Gardner served as a supervising attorney in the Trial Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and previously practiced with the Legal Aid Society in the Bronx. He is a nationally recognized trial-advocacy instructor and currently teaches at Harvard Law School, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, the National Criminal Defense College, the New York State Defenders Association’s Defender Institute, and American University Washington College of Law.
Meet the host
Maya Reisman, Esq.
Public Defense Engagement Lead @ Reduct
Maya Reisman, Esq. is the Public Defense Engagement Lead at Reduct, where she leverages her background as a public defender to advocate for the ethical and strategic use of legal technology. A former trial attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, she has extensive experience representing clients in complex felony cases, including homicides. At Reduct, she bridges the gap between frontline defense and innovative video technology, championing tools built for public defenders that directly address their unique needs and work to shift the balance of power in the courtroom.
Mrs. Reisman earned her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she received the Professor Andrew E. Taslitz Award for outstanding achievement in criminal justice. She also holds a B.A. in Comparative Languages and Linguistics from Earlham College. She is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland Bars.
About Reduct.Video
Reduct.Video helps public defenders and criminal defense teams make sense of hours of audio/video evidence — body cam, interrogation, surveillance — by transcribing all of the content, and allowing them to search, translate, redact, clip, and create video exhibits. Our platform helps defenders turn raw video into usable evidence, and ultimately defend their clients better.
We’re on a mission to bring modern technology to public defenders. Through our Criminal Law Innovation Program (CLIP), we go beyond software by partnering directly with defense teams on their most discovery-heavy cases, embedding technical support to help overcome complex digital evidence challenges in real time.
Reduct.Video Webinar
Join us on March 20 for a live case study conversation around jail calls, surveillance video, and discovery review at scale.
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