About

In 2001 I became a Certified Criminal Defense Specialist with the California State Bar Association. There are close to 200,000 practicing lawyers in California, and only 341 are Criminal Law Specialists. In order to become a Specialist I had to demonstrate a high level of competency and experience, pass a written exam, and be recommended by Judges and fellow attorneys familiar with my work. I must do more hours of continuing legal education than other attorneys who are not Specialists to maintain my status with the State Bar. 

I have a very well-rounded level of experience due to my work as a Deputy District Attorney and a former Senior Public Defender. While in the District Attorney’s Office, I handled thousands of cases, misdemeanors and felonies, and completed over 50 jury trials. The elected DA had enough confidence in me to allow me to form a specialized animal cruelty unit which is still in existence today. I have appeared on Court TV, and trained other Attorneys and Peace Officers. 

During my career as a Senior Public Defender, I was the first female in the history of the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office to win a Not Guilty jury verdict on a First Degree murder case. In 2017 I was named Public Defender of the Year by my peers out of over 70 other attorneys in the office. While assigned to the Juvenile Unit I was awarded a scholarship to the Georgetown Law School Juvenile Justice Program (2 awarded in the State of California) by the National Juvenile Defense Association.

I am a native of Fresno and graduated from Bullard High School in 1982. In the almost 30 years that I have been practicing law I have developed excellent working relationships with the local bench and District Attorney's Office. I truly enjoy assisting good people caught up in the criminal justice system.