Law college hosts chief judge of the U.S. District Court BY JACQUELINE J. HARRINGTON The Honorable Robert Holmes Bell, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, was the featured speaker at the college’s second annual lecture of the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Lecture Series held in October 2003. Judge Bell was appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. He was elected twice in Ingham County (Michigan), first as District judge and followed by service as Circuit judge. In 2002, he received the prestigious State Bar of Michigan Champion of Justice Award. The Honorable Robert Homes Bell was the featured speaker at the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Lecture Series held in October 2003. Also in 2002, Judge Bell heard the first death sentence case in Michigan since 1846, the year Michigan outlawed capital punishment. The defendant, Marvin Gabrion, was accused of murdering a woman on federal property, and certain federal crimes are punishable by death regardless of the state in which they occur. On March 16, 2002, Marvin Gabrion was sentenced to death, and his case marks the first federal death sentence imposed on a defendant in a state that does not have the death penalty since the federal death penalty was reinstated. Since this conviction, Judge Bell has heard one other federal death penalty case and is currently hearing a third. The Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute was established in 2002 through a $4 million donation by Geoffrey Fieger, ’79, nationally renowned trial lawyer. The rigorous two-year certificate program offered by the Institute trains selected law students to become successful trial lawyers and gives students valuable experience in courtroom litigation. The curriculum, featuring both required and elective courses, allows individuals to enhance their skills while expanding real-world perspectives through externships, field placements, clinical experience and other such areas of study. The Institute also sponsors the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Lecture Series featuring nationally known trial lawyers and mentors.