Served as interim Executive Director of the statewide public defender agency.The Georgia Public Defender Council is an independent agency within the executive branch of the state government of Georgia. Our mission is to ensure, independently of political considerations or private interests, that each client whose cause has been entrusted to a circuit public defender receives zealous, adequate, effective, timely, and ethical legal representation, consistent with the guarantees of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, the Constitution of the United States and the mandates of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003; to provide all such legal services in a cost efficient manner; and to conduct that representation in such a way that the criminal justice system operates effectively to achieve justice.

Led the Division responsible for reviewing, appointing and monitoring representation for indigent defendants whose convictions are on appeal from superior court or an adjudication in juvenile court where there has been a conflict declared by the local public defender office; managed an appellate office consisting of eight full-time staff attorneys, one part-time attorney, one legal administrator and one paralegal; drafted and monitored contractual relationships for twenty private attorneys located throughout the state who handle indigent appellate cases; monitored, obtained and compiled substantive and statistical data on the progress of attorneys working on appellate cases appointed from the Appellate Division; directly represented juvenile defendants and adult indigent criminal defendants on direct appeal; represented the GPDSC’s interests as amicus in direct appeals, petitions for writs of certiorari to the Supreme Court, and habeas applications; assisted juvenile defenders in representing their clients at trial and on appeal; developed and implemented statewide training for public defenders and private attorneys on trial and appellate issues.

On a twice-a-week basis provided instruction for community college students in classes including Constitutional Law, Juvenile Justice and Criminal Law; developed and implemented class syllabus and instructional techniques to maximize participation and understanding among a group of students, ranging from recent high school graduates to senior citizens

Managed criminal justice and juvenile justice matters within the national office of the oldest and largest civil rights organization, which included the evaluation of complaints and concerns regarding civil rights violations in criminal justice and the recommendation of appropriate NAACP action, including litigation; developed and drafted the NAACP juvenile justice pocket guide, “The 411 on the Five-O,” a training manual for NAACP units regarding the rights of youth as well as a publicly distributed brochure of which over 50,000 copies had been distributed as of October 2003; under the direction of the general counsel, spearheaded coalition involvement with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association and the American Bar Association to raise awareness among NAACP units of racial disparity in the indigent defense system.

Mastered a variety of legal and management skills while working as a legal service provider, prosecutor and then defense appellate attorney while on active duty. As an appellate defense counsel for over 200 clients, I advocated before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF), personally drafting appellate briefs, motions, requests for continuances and writs on issues; successfully represented clients on numerous issues of due process violations including overturning one conviction based on governmental misconduct and overturning another based on overbroad use of the Army’s fraternization policy. Served as recruiting officer representing the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps at top tier law schools in Virginia, the District of Columbia, Georgia, North Carolina and Ohio; screened applications and conducted interviews of over 120 law school students for active duty and summer internship positions in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps; served as a judge in over 25 local law school, college and high school moot court competitions.As lead prosecutor and legal advisor for the busiest trial jurisdiction on Fort Gordon, tried over 30 contested cases involving charges of rape, attempted murder, assault, illegal fraternization and larceny; reviewed and advised commanders of varying ranks on legal issues regarding investigation of on-post spousal and child abuse complaints handled by the military Family Advocacy Committee, an agency made up of physicians, social workers, psychologists and law enforcement personnel responding to such complaint; with less than 2 years on active duty and as an attorney, managed a criminal law office supervising 3 enlisted soldiers, 1 civilian worker and 1 officer during the three-month absence of a supervising attorney.