Speaking/Publications

Mr. Sali is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education events, and his written work has appeared in various professional and other publications.   

Selected speaking engagements 

  • “Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: Addressing Prosecutions Driven by Hidden Actors” (panelist), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, West Coast White Collar Conference (June 2019) 
  • “They're Not Allowed to Do It Either:  Fighting Governmental Witness Tampering,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Las Vegas, Nevada (October 2018)
  • “Using Experts and Thinking Like a Scientist,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Annual Conference (June 2017)
  • “Science for Lawyers and Judges,” University of Oregon School of Law, O’Connell Conference:  Issues at the Intersection of Law and Science (January 2017)
  • “Science for Lawyers,” Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Annual Forensics Seminar (October 2016)
  • “Fighting the Exclusion of Defense Experts,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Annual Conference (June 2016)
  • “Scientific Evidence in Environmental Litigation from the Defense Perspective,” California District Attorneys Association (June 2016)
  • “Science for Lawyers:  Understanding How Scientists Think,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Annual Forensic Science and the Law Conference (May 2016) 
  • “Challenging Oregon Wiretaps,” Oregon Federal Public Defender’s Office (January 2015) 
  • “Using Federal Law to Challenge State Wiretaps and Warrants,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Winter Conference (December 2014)
  • “Faulty Forensics,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Capital Defense Conference (October 2014)
  • “Understanding, Evaluating, and Improving Forensic Evidence,” Oregon Innocence Project (October 2014)
  • “Working with Forensic Evidence:  Assume Nothing, Scrutinize Everything,” Clark County (Washington) Indigent Defense/Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (May 2014)
  • “Investigating Evidence from Both Sides of the Bench” (panelist), Multnomah Bar Association (April 2014)
  • “Being a Skeptic in a Credulous World,” New Mexico State Bar (March 2014)
  • “A Forensic Trilogy:  Lessons from Three Cases,” Oregon State Bar (July 2013)
  • “Scientific and Other Expert Testimony:  Expert Disclosure and Admissibility” and “Winning at Trial with Expert Testimony” (co-presenter), National Business Institute (November 2012) 
  • “The Professional Edge:  Working with (and Against) Experts” (panelist), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, West Coast White Collar Conference (June 2012) 
  • “Scientific Evidence in Oregon Courts,” Multnomah Bar Association (December 2011) 
  • “Understanding and Attacking Scientific Evidence,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Winter Conference (December 2011) 
  • “Attacking Scientific Evidence in Oregon Courts,” Oregon Association of Defense Counsel, Product Practice Group (August 2011) 
  • “A Step-by-Step Guide to Excluding Scientific Evidence,” Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Annual Conference (June 2011) 
  • “Scientific Evidence Issues in Environmental Litigation,” Oregon State Bar Environmental & Natural Resources Section (April 2011) 
  • “Cross-Examination of Experts,” Metropolitan Public Defender, Washington County (April 2011) 

Selected writings 

  • Scientific Evidence:  A Manual for Oregon Defense Attorneys (published in 2012 by the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association) 
  • Third Arms, Scottish Sheep, and Jurassic Park:  Understanding Scientific Evidence (The Champion, monthly magazine published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, July 2013; click here for pdf) 
  • Memory vs. Reality:  A Landmark Oregon Case May Be Key to Answering Fundamental Questions About Handling Eyewitness Identification Evidence (Oregon State Bar Bulletin, January 2014; click here for online version) 
  • Challenging State Wiretaps:  Who Asked for the Order?  The Answer May Support Suppression (The Champion, March 2015; click here for pdf)
  • The Case for Police Body Cameras Grows Stronger (guest column, The Oregonian, April 2015; click here for online version)
  • Scientific Evidence in Environmental Litigation (American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Natural Resources & Environment quarterly magazine, Winter 2016; click here for pdf)
  • Fighting Governmental Witness Tampering (Or, You Can Have Our Defense Witnesses When You Pry Them From Our Cold, Dead Hands) (The Champion, June 2017; click here for pdf)