DePaul University College of Law in ChicagoAssociate Dean for Clinical Programs;
Clinical Professor of Law;
Director, Center for Justice in Capital Cases;
Supervisor, Death Penalty Legal ClinicBiography
Professor Lyon is currently an associate clinical professor of law and director of the DePaul Center for Justice in Capital Cases and Death Penalty Legal Clinic. In 1976, she joined the Cook County Illinois Public Defender’s Office, concluding her service there as chief of the Homicide Task Force, a 22-lawyer unit representing persons accused of homicides. She has tried over 130 homicide cases, both while with the Public Defender’s office and since. She has defended over 30 potential capital cases at the trial level and has taken 19 through penalty phase; she has won all 19. In 1990, she founded the Illinois Capital Resource Center and served as its director until joining the University of Michigan Law School faculty as an assistant clinical professor in 1995. A winner of the prestigious National Legal Aid and Defender Association’s Reginald Heber Smith Award for best advocate for the poor in the country, she is a nationally recognized expert in the field of death penalty defense and a frequent continuing legal education teacher throughout the country. In 1998, she was awarded the Justice for All Award at the National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty.
Rinn Law Library
Faculty Publications
Lyon, Andrea
Books
- With Emily Hughes and Mary Prosser, Federal Habeas Corpus: Cases and Materials (Carolina Academic Press, 2005).
- With Stephen L. Richards and Emily Hughes, Illinois Capital Defense Motions and Jury Instructions Manual, (Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois and the Center for Justice in Capital Cases at the DePaul College of Law, 2005).
- Editor, Investigation Manual (Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois and the Center for Justice in Capital Cases at the DePaul University College of Law, 2004).
- With Stephen L. Richards and Emily Hughes, Illinois Death Penalty Defense Law and Practice Manual (Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois and the Center for Justice in Capital Cases at the DePaul University College of Law, 2003).
- Editor, Mitigation Handbook (Death Penalty Trial Assistance Division, Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois and the Center for Justice in Capital Cases, DePaul College of Law, 2002).
- Illinois Capital Defense Motions Manual (Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois and the Center for Justice in Capital Cases at DePaul University College of Law, 2001).
- With Bridget McCormack, Defender Motions Book (Michigan State Appellate Defender’s Office, 2000).
- Federal Death Penalty Defense Trial Manual (National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1997).
- Post-Conviction in Death Penalty Cases: A Manual for Illinois Attorneys (2d ed., Capital Resource Center, 1993)
- With Chandra Walker, Post-Conviction in Capital Cases: A Manual for Illinois Attorneys (1st ed., Capital Resource Center, 1990).
- Illinois Death Penalty Defense Manual (2d ed., March, 1988).
- Illinois Death Penalty Defense Manual (1st ed., 1985, update 1986).
Book Chapters
- Affirmative Defenses in Illinois in Defending Illinois Criminal Cases (Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 2003; 1996 with 1999 Supplement; 1996; 1988 with 1991 Supplement; 1988).
Articles
- But He Doesn't Look Retarded: Challenges to Jury Selection in the Capital Case for the Mentally Retarded Client Not Excluded Under Atkins V. Virginia (Working Paper)
Full text via SSRN - Defending the Life-or-Death Case, Litig., Winter, 2006 at 45.
Full text via Wisconsin State Public Defender site - The Negative Effects of Capital Jury Selection (in Panel Two, The Capital Jury, in Symposium: Toward a Model Death Penalty Code: The Massachusetts Governor’s Council Report), 80 Ind. L.J. 52 (2005).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - With Dr. Mark Cunningham, "Reason Not the Need": Does the Lack of Compelling State Interest in Maintaining a Separate Death Row Make it Unlawful?, 33 Am. J. Crim. L. 1 (2005).
Full text via SSRNFull text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Naming the Dragon: Litigating Race Issues During a Death Penalty Trial, 53 DePaul L. Rev. 1647 (2004).
Full text via SSRNFull text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - With Laurence A. Benner et al., Criminal Justice in the Supreme Court: An Analysis of United States Supreme Court Criminal and Habeas Corpus Decisions (October 2, 2000 - September 30, 2001), 38 Cal. W. L. Rev. 87 (2002).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - With Laurence A. Benner et al., Criminal Justice in the Supreme Court: A Review of United States Supreme Court Criminal and Habeas Corpus Decisions (October 4, 1999 - October 1, 2000), 37 Cal. W. L. Rev. 239 (2001).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - With Emily Hughes and Juanita Thomas, The People v. Juanita Thomas: A Battered Woman’s Journey to Freedom, 13 Women & Crim. Just. 27 (2001).
Full text via DePaul Center for Justice in Capital Cases - Setting the Record Straight: A Proposal for Handling Prosecutorial Appeals to Racial, Ethnic or Gender Prejudice During Trial, 6 Mich. J. Race & L. 319 (2001).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Be Careful What You Wish For: An Examination of Arrest and Prosecution Patterns of Domestic Violence Cases in Two Cities in Michigan, 5 Mich. J. Gender & L. 253 (1999).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Investigating and Trying a Homicide Case, The Champion, Sept./Oct. 1998 at 14.
Full text via DePaul Center for Justice in Capital Cases - New Opportunities for Defense Attorneys: How Record Preservation Requirements After the New Habeas Bill Require Extensive and Exciting Trial Preparation, 30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 389 (1997).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Unintended Consequences: The United States Supreme Court’s Mission to Restrict Remedies for State Prisoners Backfires, 30 Cal. W. L. Rev. 265 (1994).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Defending the Death Penalty Case: What Makes Death Different?, 42 Mercer L. Rev. 695 (1991).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - With Michael J. Morrissey, In Case of Confession, The Champion, May 1990.
- With Helen Morrison, M.D., Self-Defense and Battered Spouse Syndrome: A Legal and Psychological Perspective, Criminal Defense, May-June, 1982 at 8.
- Equal Access to Evidence: The Case for Defense Use of Immunity for Essential Witnesses, Criminal Defense, July-August, 1981 at 19.
- The Preliminary Hearing: A Necessary Part of Due Process, Criminal Defense, May-June, 1979 at 9.
Miscellaneous
- State Strict on Lawyer Conflicts in Capital Cases, Chi. Daily L. Bull., Apr 27, 2002 at 9.
Full text via LexisNexis Academic,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus - Panel Discussion, Symposium, Capital Punishment: Is There Any Habeas Left in this Corpus?, 27 Loy. U. Chi. L. J. 587 (1996).
Full text via Hein Online,
DePaul Campus Connect login required off-campus
What others are saying
- Thanks for the article link about Logan.Judging from her experience, her worry for Caylee is non-existent. Her client, Casey, is her only concern. As a defense attorney, in our system, truth, justice, concern for the victim is not part of defense. Her job is to get Casey off. End of worry and moral dilema. As evidenced by her history of not letting your conscience be your guide. Caylee has no voice except public outrage. Too many careers to build, futures to further, books to write. I appreciate the background on this attorney, fits right in doesn't she.
- casey *snot mom* anthonyNow Ms. Lyon wants to save casey from the death penalty.
I wish she would consider *righting* some of the wrong she has done to Mr. Logan and fight on behalf of Caylee, who cannot speak to what happened to her because she was murdered.
casey won't get the death penalty, so Ms. Lyon won't have to really work very hard. I think most people would rather see casey suffer by not ever getting to go out and party again they way she did after she *claimed* Caylee went missing on June 9th, (casey's original story), or was it really on the night of June 15th, Father's Day, after cindy came home from seeing her father & mother & found out that casey had stolen her own grandmother's money?
Yet, now, cindy & george won't admit to saying casey stole from them or cindy's mother. They won't even admit to knowing she stole from anyone, not even Amy Huizenga, casey's *best friend*!
I guess the family that lies together stays together?
You know cindy had it out with casey that night & rightfully so! Neighbors even heard it & good ole lee said cindy tried to choke casey.
george lies & says he last saw casey & Caylee as they left the house on June 16th & he even details what both casey & Caylee were wearing that day, down to the backpacks, shoes, socks, everything!
Now he told this to LE in July or August.
How many of you remember what your husband or wife was wearing a month ago, in detail, down to the socks & shoes? I don't even remember what I wore a month ago but he would have us believe he did.
Ms. Lyon, be Caylee's voice. Speak for her. She was a victim & needs a voice. Trust me, you would get more respect doing that than you will working for the casey anthony dream & scream team! - The 4 attys involved in the chicagoreader.com link in the post below, Mr. Coventry, Mr. Kunz, Mr. Miller, & Ms. Lyon thought since Mr. Logan was not getting the death penalty it wouldn’t matter if he had to spend all his natural life in jail so they let him rot there for 26 years. They saw no reason to come forward & speak up. For these attys, the truth was not important & neither was Mr. Logan’s life. They played God!
Put yourself in Mr. Logan's place because this *can* happen to anyone!
Friends, neighbors, people he knew all thought he was guilty of something he had not done. Maybe his family members passed away without him ever getting to hold them, touch them, kiss them, hug them, or even tell them he loved them again. Mr. Logan was shunned by society & locked away for 26 years!
People that depended on him to support them also suffered. An injustice like this affects MANY people, not just the person who was wronged
I would much rather give up my career & do "THE RIGHT THING" & go on to do pro bono work than to allow an innocent person to rot behind bars!
How can Mr. Logan, who I believe is still behind bars while this gets sorted out, get ANY of those years back? Who reimburses him for the salary he *could* have earned had he NOT been left to rot in jail all those years? He will not be reimbursed for anything that was taken from him.
These attys will just claim atty-client privilege & be done with it but how does*he* start over?
I don't know how these people sleep at night! I couldn't, but then again, I have a conscience & I care about injustice.
Ms. Lyon would have you think she cares about “justice”. She saves guilty people from being sentenced to death when in many cases, they deserve it!
Where was her sense of "justice" with regards to Mr. Logan?
Would she be so eager to save people from the death penalty if they killed someone near & dear to her?
I think that a person that knowingly allows an innocent person to do time for a crime they did NOT commit is as guilty as the person who committed that crime. I consider them an accessory & if you knew a crime was committed & you kept quiet about it, you would be considered an accessory. Funny how attys get away with so much isn’t it?
Our laws need to be seriously revised. People need to be held accountable for their actions and attys need to do the RIGHT thing. Today's laws protect the criminals & the innocent suffer.
Ms. Lyon, I know you have worked hard to get where you are today. That doesn't excuse what you & other attys have done to innocent people along the way. Your guilty clients walk the streets while their victims lie dead in a grave. - My postswell, since posts are looked over, I doubt mine will make it in. I call them as I see them!
But DO check this site out....its very interesting and enlightening!
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/hottype/080131/ - CayleeThe following link is an interesting read.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/hottype/080131/
Its about a man who spent 26 years in jail for a crime he did NOT commit, and Ms. Lyon knew about it and did nothing, so I am not so sure she is a person who cares much about *justice* being done. I am sure Mr Alton Logan doesn't see it that way either.
With a sister in film making and Ms Lyon's bookwriting, I smell some serious deals & money funneling to the anthony's, casey, and maybe even baez on her behalf. Trust me, somehow, someway, BIG money has been funneled into casey's pockets from deals, etc., but it will all come out one day. I hope they all do BIG TIME for it too.
Too bad Caylee is not here to tell us what happened. Now THAT is what I call cruel....the death of an innocent child!
If snot mom casey is so innocent of Caylee's murder, how do you explain all her lies?
People who have nothing to hide don't lie!
casey has lied and stolen from friends & family yet cindy anthony says she should get the mother of the year award.
Who else had a reason OR motive to kill Caylee?
I truly wish that people who KNOWINGLY allow guilty murderers to go free would have loved ones become victims of these murderers and see if they feel the same way after that happens.
I don't want casey to get the death penalty. That is much too good for her. I think she should get life without the possibility of parole & have to see Caylee's picture on all 3 walls of her cell each & every day of her lousy life.
I hope the truth comes out one day, & all of you who sing & have sung the praises & innocent of casey can eat your words.
I also think cindy & george knew very early on that Caylee was dead & just fooled the public with all their *sightings of Caylee*.
They certainly didn't waste any time washing casey's clothing, the car, & the many other things they did to obstruct this case.
But you know what.....God will get them all for all they have done!
And KFN....with a convicted felon at the helm...boy, they have aligned themselves with some VERY questionable characters! - Who is paying the billIt would be nice for once if Baez actually told us the truth and who is paying the bills for Badem-Kennedy and now Lyon. All he ever does is pontificate and then double back and deny what he has said. Does Lyon really want to get mixed up with a lawyer who could not get accepted by the Flroida bar for over six years due to ethics issues?
- CayleeFrom reading comments posted, it seems to me as if many of the commenters have insight as to what really happened to Caylee. After all it seems as if so many have certainty that Casey murdered her daughter, must be based on Media information, unless they were actually present. Casey is guilty of many things as many of us are, but am I sure that she murdered her daughter? The answer is no. However, one thing I am certain off is that Casey will not get a fair trial, especially in Florida. There are too many haters against Casey and her defense team. Stop degrading the defense team. Professor Lyon is an expert and well recognized in her field. People respect that!
- Here is my well documented strategy...Her strategies are well documented in 12 books. All the prosecution has to do is read her books and they already know what she is going to say and prepare counters for every approach made in her books well before hand. Then she has nothing! They would be better off getting a lower profile, more private attorney that does not publish what they are going to do in 12 books. Case closed.
- Andrea LyonWell, she has won alot of cases, but what will happen when she see that she lost this case. Casey needs to get over herself, and face facts! Let that video out, must prove that Casey is guilty when they found the remains of Caylee on 11 December 2008, and confirmed it was Caylee on 19 December. Casey is GUILTY AS CHARGED! Good luck, Lady! You will need it!
- CASEY ANTHONYI am sure that Prof. Lyon has integrity and is absolutely professional. What I find difficult is wondering how she will be able to reconcile her passionate defense of Casey's innocence with the horrors that were inflicted upon little Caylee? In other words, defence lawyers appear to airbrush the victims out of the picture. [In today's hearing Caylee was not mentioned once.]I find this aspect of Prof. Lyon's work unpalatable. But I am willing to be enlightened if perhaps she can help me.
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