My research project is about whether the death penalty is an appropriate and constitutional means of punishment in the United States, but with a particular focus on the state of California. Thus, initially, I started out by reading and learning more about the case law surroudning the development of the death penalty. Such case law includes Strickland and United States v Herrara which determines the work of the defense counsel in death penalty proceedings. I was aiming to find out unique research on what the future of the death penalty can be based on a number of interviews and materials that I have gathered. This would then be split into different areas which would be looked into in more detail. For example: i conducted surveys based on what local residents of California thought about the upcoming referendum in Autumn 2016 based on whether they would like to abolish or modify and reform the way that the death penalty is conducted in the state of California. So, since this is a particular area of interest, I read case law like California v Henry Smith which was based on whether the courts should preclude death qualification. Another area of interest where I have researched and will research more is in the area of mitigation. This is a profound and fundamental part of the death penalty within the United States and can be used by the defense counsel to demonstrate to the jury the reasons for which they should often choose a life sentence without the possibility of parole rather than the death sentence. Mitigation is based on the case of Tennard v Dretke and part of my research was conducting interviews and observing trends in order to view whether mitigation can demonstrate that, actually, the death penalty is unconstitutional. On the other hand, within my project, I also observed and analysed whether the fact that mitigation can be found by just one juror is constitutional or not.

I would like to develop my interpersonal and communication skills to help me not only in this research project, but also in the future. This will be challenging, however, it is important to be able to communicate effectively with others in order to understand a particular area or common interest.

I am going to be attending the Bryan R. Shechmeister Death Penalty College in Santa Clara, California. There will be a number of prominent and leading attorneys within the field of capital law representation as well as mitigation specialists and investigators. This will enable me to talk to attorneys from around the United States regarding the difficulties with capital cases in their own jurisdiction, though, of particular interest is the effects of the criminal justice system in California and what can be improved and reformed in order to ensure maximum justice for all defendants. In addition, I will be attending seminars and lectures led by some of the leading academics within the field where I can pose questions and challenge ideas and methods that will be used by legal professionals in the United States.

This objective is important because attending the conference will enable me to conduct surveys and discuss important elements of the death penalty including mitigation, opening and closing statements as well as other parts of a death penalty trial. Also, it is a vital skill in being able to transform oral research into written research and often one which can help in the future when giving presentations based upon the research that has been conducted.

It is an achievable goal because it is one of the highlights and most important parts of my research. By attending this conference, there will be the necessary resources available including various surveys and packagaes involving a number of attorneys. It is achievable within the timeframe because following the conference, I plan on putting together and further enhancing my plan regarding my research paper. Prior to the conference, I was able to learn and understand much about the death penalty in California, however, following the conference, I will able to write up my observations and findings with regards to my topic given that there is just under two months after the conference until the deadline. Therefore, it is an achievable objective.

I will achieve this objective by the time that the research paper is written and I am ready to use my poster in a myriad of ways. By presenting my poster, I will be able to demonstrate and showcase my newly found communication skills in order to demonstrate the particular topics in relation to my research paper. Thus, it will be evident over time that my interpersonal and communication skills will have improved through my written and oral thought so that the audience can have a firm grasp of the research I am trying to convey.

I will know that I am successful if the message of my research has been conveyed in a fluid and effective manner. The fact that my communication skills are to be improved is important and will be shown if my research paper is clear and less difficult for certain members of the audience to understand. Furthermore, if I am able to present my poster properly so that the ordinary man is able to understand technical legal jargon, then I will know that I have been successful in achieving this goal.

I would like to develop and improve my legal research in regard to Westlaw and other such research engines. After having gained the certification for Westlaw and LexisNexis at the University of Warwick, being able to fulfil this challenge would be important because it would show a greater knowledge of the research sites as well as help me in international scenarios.

I would have to try and read and instruct myself as to the similarities and differences with the UK Westlaw in comparison the international format. Following this, I would be able to first research easier cases and just look at simple actions, but then, would need to do more complicated actions to fully understand the site and the different cases that would need to be used. Finally, following some practice and reading of cases, it would be necessary to carry out simple tasks finding journal articles as well as different secondary and primary legislation to help me conduct my research. However, this developmental goal is important and one must conduct is in a steady and careful manner.

I have chosen this objective because after having gone to the United States, it is important to immerse oneself in the technical rules of their own research engines to fully appreciate how case law and legislation can work. Thus, since I have the necessary foundations in regards to English Westlaw and LexisNexis, I could translate these skills and further develop them to cover wider parts of the world. Therefore, it would allow me the opportunity to find more specific parts of a court and judge's judgment within a case and then allow me to further expand my knowledge in regards to this judgment. Caselaw is one of the most important parts of any legal paper and so this developmental goal would form the foundation of ones' research.

This is achievable since it requires some practice and working knowledge of the legal research sites. With the resources available, it is not arduous, rather, just requires patience and determination to try and finish a well argued, balanced and academic paper and poster with help from the American legal research sites.

I will achieve this by the end of my work in the United States. I will have been able to work around and understand the intricacies of the American Westlaw system. From the beginning, I will ensure the understand the instructions and ask others for help, though, this is more of a self help guide. This will then further help me within my project and poster, so it is important that I can achieve this goal by the end of the stay in the United States since it links with other areas of legal research.

I will know that I have been successful if I can successfully manage to negotiate the site and understand the intricacies of the site with regards to the myraid of functions which can be performed. Furthermore, it can be seen that if I am able to perform the legal research and understand different case law, legislation and journal articles, then I will be successful I can begin to compile a bank of necessary and appropriate material to work with when I come to complete my poster and project. In addition, the third reason how I will know that I have been successful is if I am able to link the legal research completed by the American Westlaw and LexisNexis sites along with other forms of research to truly add a unique spin on the data collection and research that I am aiming to do.