Bob Graham Center for Public Service

Given the recent changes in the state legislature regarding Florida’s capital sentencing laws, UF’s Mock Trial Team partnered with the Bob Graham Center for a public program on the impacts on the justice system, including the reactivity challenge in the Florida Supreme Court. The program was held Oct. 26, 2023.

The panel of experts was moderated by Esha Bhat, a third-year political science major and Mock Trial Vice President.

Watch the live stream of the event.

Speakers

Brian Kramer is State Attorney for the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida, where he serves as the chief prosecutor of criminal cases. In his role, he also advocates for the rights of victims, negotiates plea deals, presents evidence to the grand jury to secure an indictments, and provides legal guidance and advice to law enforcement agencies. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Kramer earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Florida in 1990  and a J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 1993. With over 27 years of legal experience, he has worked in civil litigation, as an assistant public defender, and as an assistant state attorney, with 20 years spent as a state prosecutor.  He served as Assistant Public Defender for the 12th Judicial Circuit from 1993-95, representing indigent defendants in various legal matters. In the state attorney’s office, he has prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases involving juvenile crime, traffic offenses, domestic violence, drug, property, financial crimes and sexual crimes, child abuse, violent crime, and murder.

Lewis Buzzell, a distinguished attorney in Jacksonville with 46 years of experience, holds a B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) and a J.D. (with honors) from the University of Florida. His career primarily revolves around trial work, with a particular emphasis on criminal defense, including extensive experience in capital cases. He spent a significant portion of his career at the Fourth Circuit Public Defender’s Office, handling a wide range of cases and serving in supervisory roles. Notably, he held the position of Chief Assistant Public Defender, Fourth Circuit, from January 2017 to his retirement in October 2021.

Mr. Buzzell has been actively involved in legal organizations, including the Florida Bar Criminal Law Section, where he chaired the Capital Cases Committee. He has been a faculty member of the Gerald T. Bennett Prosecutor/Public Defender Trial Training Program at UF Levin College of Law since 1986, coaching law trial teams and working with student trial teams. He also taught law trial advocacy and criminal procedure at UF law school and served as an adjunct professor at Flagler College, instructing on criminal law and constitutional law. Beyond his legal work in the United States, Mr. Buzzell made significant contributions as a Justice Advisor with the Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP) in Afghanistan, focusing on indigent criminal defense under the State Department’s guidance.

Professor Jennifer Zedalis, Director of Trial Practice at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Assistant Director of the Criminal Justice Center, has a distinguished legal career. She holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida (1984) and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from Duke (1980). She co-chairs the Gerald T. Bennett Public Defender/Prosecutor Trial Program and has been part of the PPD faculty for 24 years. Her teaching portfolio includes trial practice, pretrial practice, intro to lawyering, and she has previously taught mental health litigation and the criminal defense clinic. Additionally, she serves as the faculty advisor for the trial team and leads the Peter T. Fay Jurist in Residence Program.

With 30 years of experience in criminal defense, she has worked as an assistant public defender in the Fifth and Eighth Judicial Circuits and ran her solo law practice from 1998 to 2003. Her legal expertise covers a wide spectrum of criminal cases, including capital cases, appeals, post-conviction proceedings, and trials. Beyond her teaching and practice, Professor Zedalis has shared her knowledge internationally through lectures in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Costa Rica on American trial procedure, evidence, and criminal practice. She’s recognized as an expert in Florida criminal law and has contributed articles to the ABA Trial Evidence Committee.