San Diego, California

During the first quarter of the year, San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; and Providence, Rhode Island received groups of prosecutors, investigators and forensic scientists from the Mexican states of Baja California, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Morelos, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi. 

With the support of the California, Oregon and Rhode Island Attorneys

Generals, the groups learned about working together as a team to bring a case to trial, in addition to touring local judicial and law enforcement facilities.

Portland, Oregon

Providence, Rhode Island

Mixed-Model Distance Learning

Durango Attorney General's Office

Simultaneously, teams of US instructors shared the live lectures via videoconference in the Mexican cities of Durango, Puebla and Queretaro, and conducted practice sessions on site. The teams participated in a series of practical exercises from investigation through trial with experienced investigators and prosecutors from US agencies.

Queretaro Attorney General's Office

More than 200 Mexican law enforcement personnel and two dozen US instructors participated in this quarter's activities.

The presentations from the Interdisciplinary Exchanges were also streamed live to viewers throughout Mexico via Internet, and the recordings are available online here.

Puebla Attorney General's Office

Binational Attorney General Collaborations

Generals Zamarripa and Rosenblum

Generals Dorantes and Kilmartin

Morelos Attorney General Rodrigo Dorantes Salgado met with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin during the March Interdisciplinary Exchange to discuss specific areas in which the two offices can continue collaborations in the future. The Attorneys General pledged bilateral communication and support.

Generals Brnovich and Navarro

On March 24th, Sonora Attorney General Carlos Navarro traveled to Phoenix to meet with recently-elected Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to discuss continuing the long-established Arizona-Sonora relationships that have led to much past cross-border collaboration. At the meeting facilitated by the CWAG Alliance Partnership, the Attorneys General each committed to dedicating personnel from both agencies to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of crimes that affect both states.

Instructor Spotlight: John Haroldson

Benton County (Oregon) District Attorney John Haroldson has consistently helped promote the spirit of binational collaboration on which the CWAG Alliance Partnership is founded. In addition to serving as the first Mexican-American District Attorney in Oregon, he

Teaching Trial Skills in Guanajuato

frequently teaches oral advocacy skills courses for CWAG, the ABA and the National District Attorneys Association. Each year John organizes a group of Oregon Latino students to attend the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute's National Leadership Conference. In February, he took 101 participants to USHLI in Chicago.

John was recently awarded the 2014 Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award, which is given to attorneys who publicly and consistently demonstrate integrity, honesty and willing compliance with the letter and spirit of the law, with the rules of the court, with the highest ethical standards, and with professional standards stated in the Oregon State Bar Statement of Professionalism. The recipient fosters the respect and trust of other lawyers, clients, members of the community, and the judicial system.

The CWAG Alliance Partnership is honored to share John Haroldson's many talents with participants across Mexico.