Introduction to Trial Advocacy

Fran Chardo has served as District Attorney of Dauphin County since 2018. Mr. Chardo heads a staff of 31 prosecutors, 12 detectives, and 34 support staff. He has been a prosecutor for 29 years. Mr. Chardo is board certified in criminal trial advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. In 2002, he served as a special prosecutor in York County, Pennsylvania in connection with the trial of the 1969 race riot murder of Lillie Belle Allen. He is an adjunct professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School and serves as an advocacy instructor at the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Chardo received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College in 1990 and his law degree from Widener University School of Law in 1993.

Edward F. McCann, Jr. joined the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office February 1, 2016 as the First Assistant District Attorney. In this role, McCann oversees the day-to-day administration of the office as well as supervises the legal staff and the nearly 9,000 cases prosecuted by the office annually.

McCann comes to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office after serving for 26 years in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Most recently, he was the First Assistant District Attorney for more than four years. In that position, he oversaw a staff of 300 attorneys and 200 support staff, managed the annual budget, oversaw human resources and worked with city administration, police officials and other law enforcement agencies.

Prior to becoming Philadelphia’s First Assistant, McCann served as the Deputy of the Trial Division (2010-2011), Chief of the Homicide Unit (2002-2010), and Chief of the Felony Waiver Unit (1998-2002). He was an Assistant District Attorney in the law and trial division from 1989 when he joined the office to 1998.

A career prosecutor, McCann has been involved in some noteworthy cases and has taken more than 75 jury trials to verdict as well as litigated hundreds of bench trials. He led the grand jury investigation into the death of Danieal Kelly, a 14-year-old girl who died horribly neglected in her home while supposedly being monitored by the City’s Department of Human Services. He personally prosecuted and obtained convictions on all nine defendants charged in the case.


McCann is a frequent speaker and educator, conducting national trainings for prosecutors, law enforcement and social workers in the investigation and prosecution of cases of physical abuse of children and domestic
violence. He is also a frequent instructor on mental health defenses and homicide investigation and prosecution. His dedication to training prosecutors and law enforcement has seen McCann receive numerous awards including the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute’s 2021 Distinguished Faculty award and more recently the National District Attorneys Association’s 2024 Distinguished Prosecutor & Faculty Award.

McCann is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He received his law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law and an undergraduate degree in Communications from Boston University.

Mike Sprow is the First Assistant District Attorney in Dauphin County, where he handles a diverse caseload, oversees the County Investigating Grand Jury, and assists the District Attorney with special projects. Prior to returning to the District Attorney’s Office in February of 2015, Sprow served as the state Inspector General. Before joining the Office of Inspector General, Sprow was a Senior Deputy Attorney General in the Criminal Prosecutions Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General from 2006 to 2012. There, he handled general prosecutions, with a focus on child predator and public corruption cases. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Sprow was a Deputy District Attorney in Dauphin County from 2002 to 2006, where he prosecuted adult criminal cases from preliminary hearing through appeal. In that role, he conducted dozens of jury trials, including cases of homicide, violent crimes, drugs, and white collar crime. Before joining the District Attorney’s Office, Sprow served as a law clerk for Chief U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas. Sprow earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Gettysburg College, and his Juris Doctor degree from the William and Mary School of Law.

Jennifer W. Gettle currently serves as a Chief Deputy District Attorney for the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office. In Dauphin County, her primary caseload includes child abuse and sexual assault offenses, in addition to other crimes of violence. Prior to joining Dauphin County in 2006, Ms. Gettle was the First Assistant District Attorney for the Lebanon County District Attorney’s Office where she served until December of 2005. Ms. Gettle began her career in the District Attorney’s Office in 1995 as a Victim Advocate for the Child Abuse Response Team. In 1996, she was appointed as an Assistant District Attorney with the child abuse unit. In 1999, she was appointed First Assistant handling major felony cases including numerous homicide cases. While in Lebanon County, Ms. Gettle was cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in conjunction with Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Ms. Gettle has taught for PBI, PDAA, the Pennsylvania DUI Association and the criminal justice program at HACC. In 2017, Ms. Gettle was the recipient of the Governor’s Victim Service Pathfinder Award.

Ms. Gettle received her undergraduate degree in 1992 from the Pennsylvania State University and her law degree in 1996 from the Widener University School of Law.

Kelly Lloyd has been employed by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office since 2010. She is currently the Chief of the Diversion and Pretrial Division, overseeing the county’s Pretrial Services Unit, all Diversionary Programs and Treatment Courts, as well as all the entry level attorneys in the office. Prior to her current role, Kelly was served as an Assistant Chief of the Trials Division, overseeing all of Montgomery County’s drug and firearms prosecutions. She was also previously Captain of the Grand Jury and Drug Units. In addition to her current role in the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, she serves as a Legislative Liaison on behalf of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. She works with Kelly Callihan advocating on behalf of the Commonwealth’s District Attorneys with our state legislators, including speaking with elected Senators, Representatives, and their staff on proposed and existing legislation. Kelly graduated from Juniata College in 2007 and from Penn State Law in 2010.