Evaluations in Death Penalty Proceedings: Capital Mitigation, Atkins, and Related Issues | August 13-14, 2026 | VIRTUAL

The Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy presents:

Evaluations in Death Penalty Proceedings: Capital Mitigation, Atkins, and Related Issues | August 13-14, 2026 from 11AM-5PM EST each day | Virtual

$350.00 Standard Registration

Click here for a detailed agenda (to be uploaded).

Workshop Description

For decades, the death penalty had been on the decline in the U.S., but the past two years have witnessed a resurgence in capital cases, particularly at the federal level. Capital litigation often relies on a variety of specialized mental health experts, and there is need for more.  But working on capital cases requires knowledge, skills, and practice standards well beyond the basics of more routine, non-capital forensic work.

In this two-day training, capital attorneys (Attorneys Donovan & Engle) with decades of experience in state and federal cases will teach the legal bases and key concepts underlying capital proceedings, including crucial case law. Along with a national expert on mitigation (Dr. Vartkessian), they will also describe some of the cultural features and dynamics unique to capital litigation, including the role of mitigation specialists.

The second half of training relies on the experienced forensic evaluators (Drs. Marcopulos and Murrie) to teach the unique features of capital case evaluations, particularly those addressing mitigation, Atkins issues, and capital risk assessment.

Target Audience

This workshop is particularly suited for experienced forensic evaluators who are considering, or have begun, work in capital cases. Students, residents, fellows, and other trainees are certainly welcome as well. We will emphasize throughout training the ways in which work on capital cases requires specific education, training, and supervised experience.

Instructors

Daniel Murrie, Ph.D., serves as Director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy (ILPPP) and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.  

Dr. Murrie directs the University of Virginia (UVA) Forensic Clinic, the UVA Postdoctoral Fellowship in Forensic Psychology, and Virginia’s state-sponsored training program for psychologists and psychiatrists learning to perform court-ordered forensic evaluations. As a forensic psychologist, Dr. Murrie performs a variety of forensic evaluations around the country, with an emphasis on evaluations of trial competence and evaluations in capital cases. As a consultant, he works with state administrators and advocacy groups—and serves as a federally-appointed monitor—to help states improve their forensic service systems.

As a scholar, Dr. Murrie has co-authored roughly 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, books, and book chapters, all addressing forms of forensic mental health evaluation. Much of his research program addresses quality, reliability, and bias in forensic psychological evaluations.

Dr. Murrie was recently President of the American Psychological Association’s Division 41, the American Psychology-Law Society (APLS). He was the 2025 winner of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology’s award for Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology.

Bernadette Donovan, J.D., is a partner in the Charlottesville, Virginia, law firm of Donovan & Engle, PLLC, and is Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel with the Federal Capital Trial Project.

Bernadette began her career as a Law Fellow at the Northern Virginia Capital Defender Office. After that, Bernadette worked at the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, where she represented death-sentenced persons in state post-conviction challenges to their convictions and sentences. Bernadette has taught courses in both Death Penalty Law and Habeas Corpus at Washington & Lee University School of Law. Prior to the abolition of Virginia’s death penalty, Bernadette also co-directed the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse (“VC3”), a yearlong clinic at the law school that provided legal support for Virginia capital defense teams. At the time of abolition, Bernadette was Co-Chair of the Virginia Capital Defense Workshop, an annual multi-day training for attorneys defending death penalty cases. Bernadette now primarily defends federal capital cases.

Bernadette is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was an Executive Editor of the Virginia Law Review. Before that, she received her B.A. with both General and Departmental Honors from the University of Chicago, where she studied Human Development with a specialization in Mental Health Issues. 

Matthew Engle, J.D., currently serves as the Learned Counsel for Walid bin 'Atash, one of six men facing capital charges in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. Engle graduated from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 2001. Thereafter, he worked as a Staff Attorney at the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center (2001-07), a Deputy Capital Defender at the Office of the Capital Defender for Northern Virginia (2007-10), the Legal Director of The Innocence Project at University of Virginia School of Law (2010-14), and the Co-Director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse at Washington & Lee University School of Law. Since 2014, Engle has been in private practice as a partner at Donovan & Engle, PLLC, in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he continues to represent capital defendants in state and federal courts.

Elizabeth Vartkessian, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of Advancing Real Change. She began work as a mitigation specialist in Houston, Texas when it was the epicenter of capital punishment. There she learned and developed skills aimed at helping decision-makers have a full picture of her clients. After obtaining her Ph.D. in Law from the University of Oxford, Dr. Vartkessian and several colleagues created Advancing Real Change, Inc. (ARC) a national non-profit located in Baltimore, MD dedicated to conducting high-quality life history investigations in criminal cases. She has worked as a mitigation specialist with defense teams in trial and post-conviction cases in state and federal jurisdictions and is an international expert on collecting and presenting mitigating evidence, as well as the standard of care required by the defense in death penalty and juvenile cases.

Dr. Vartkessian's approach to investigating and presenting evidence is informde by research. She is a researcher with the Capital Jury Project (CJP), an ongoing research projecvt sponsored by the National Science Foundation that seeks to understand how capital jurors make their sentencing decisions and whether those decisions are made in keeping with the law. The results of her research were widely citated by the American Bar Association's review of the Texas capital sentencing system. Her publications include articles in law reviews, peer review journals, and opinion pieces. Her book on mitigation, The Deserving, was published earlier this year.

Bernice A. Marcopulos, Ph.D., ABPP, is Board Certified in Clinical Neuropsychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is Professor Emeritus of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where she directed the Psychological Sciences program. She also holds an appointment as Visiting Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville, VA. Dr. Marcopulos was the Director of the Western State Hospital (WSH) Neuropsychology Laboratory in Staunton, Virginia, for 20 years, where she provided evaluations for civilly committed and forensic patients, developed and implemented cognitive remediation for a hospital-wide psychosocial rehabilitation program and co-Directed the UVA/WSH post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology. She is the co-editor of Clinical Neuropsychological Foundations of Schizophrenia (2012). Her research and clinical interests include the effects of education and culture on neuropsychological testing, dementia, schizophrenia, and criminal forensic issues, particularly neurocognitive functioning and adjudicative competence. She has provided neuropsychological consultation on 32 state and federal capital cases. She was a Fulbright Fellow in the Psychology Department at the University of Warsaw and was elected as a Fellow in NAN and APA. Dr. Marcopulos served two terms as Secretary of the International Neuropsychological Society. She has served as a Board Member and Oral Examiner for the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology and chaired the Examination Committee of the ABCN for over 14 years. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology and on the core leadership committee of the AACN Forensic Special Interest Group.

Learning Objectives

After attending this training, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the constitutional and statutory bases of capital sentencing evaluations and describe how identifying mitigating factors isan essentail component of the individualized sentencing required by the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence.
2. Define mitigation, explain its relevance to capital sentencing, and summarize at least two U.S. Supreme Court cases that address the purpose and scope of mitigating evidence.
3. Identify the various roles on the capital defense team and describe how each team member must contribute to a thorough capital sentencing evaluation.
4. Describe best practices for conducting forensic mental health assessments addressing mitifation at capital sentencing, and describe ways these differ from other forensic mental health evaluations.
5. Describe the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Atkins v. Virginia, and the decision's implications for capital proceedings and forensic mental health assessment.

Continuing Education

Participants can expect to receive 10 hours of continuing education credits (CEs) through ILPPP, which is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ILPPP maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Upon completion of this training, participants will be sent a Qualtrics survey link to evaluate the content and the speakers. Personalized CE certificates will be provided at the end of the Qualtrics survey. While completion of the evaluation is not required to be awared continuing education credits, we would greatly appreciate your feedback.

You must join no later than 12PM each day and stay for the duration of the presentation for all three days in order to receive the CE credits.

CE credits are applicable for licensed psychologists; other disciplines will need to check the relevant statutes and guidance regarding whether or not this can count towards any CE requirement.

Training Fees

$350.00 Standard Registration

Refund Policy:

Full refunds are available up to one week prior to the training date. No refunds will be issued within one week of the training. To request a refund, email Walker Hill, Training Program Coordinator, at kwh4pyd@uvahealth.org.