Joined the faculty in 1992. Clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Practiced law at Loeb and Loeb in Los Angeles. Served as Dean of the University of Arizona School of Law, taught at the University of Illinois School of Law and was a visiting professor at the University of Geneva, University of Melbourne, University of Puerto Rico, University of San Diego and the University of Texas.

Author of Criminal Procedure in Practice, The Entrapment Defense, The Prosecution and Defense of Criminal Conspiracy Cases, and articles in the American Journal of Comparative Law and the Cornell, Georgetown, William and Mary, Florida, Southern California, and American Criminal law reviews. Co-author of Copyright and other Aspects of Law Pertaining to Literary, Musical and Artistic Works; Criminal Law: Cases and Materials; and Criminal Procedure: Cases and Materials.

Recently served as President of the Association of American Law Schools and completed a three year term on the AALS Executive Committee. President, AALS Fellows. Member of the American Bar Association Committees on the Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence, International Criminal Law, and Law School Curriculum. Co-reporter for the National Right to Counsel Committee, 2004-2007. Founder of the Literature and the Law Program at the Central Virginia Regional Jail. Frequently interviewed by the media (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CBS, NPR, ABC) as an expert in criminal law and procedure. 2017 Recipient of the McGlothlin Teaching Award for Classroom Excellence, Recipient of the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award, University of Arizona; Volunteer of the Year Award, Williamsburg Big Brothers Mentoring Program; the Walter L. Williams, Jr. Teaching Award; and was selected in 2010, to receive the Commonwealth's Outstanding Faculty Award, the state's highest honor for professors.