Melinda R. Katz, Queens district attorney.Meet the New Power Players After Queens DA Reorganizes Office
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz reorganized the office, creating a unit focused on reexamining cases for potential wrongful convictions and another dedicated to community safety. She also made two changes to plea policy.
January 06, 2020 at 11:03 PM
4 minute read
Less than a week after taking office, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a mix of veterans and newcomers will take executive roles in her office, with the top job of chief executive assistant district attorney going to Jennifer Naiburg, who joined the DA's office 26 years ago.
Katz also reorganized the office, creating a unit focused on reexamining cases for potential wrongful convictions and another dedicated to community safety. She also made two changes to plea policy.
Defendants will no longer be required to waive their right to a grand jury proceeding before negotiating a plea with prosecutors, Katz said. Her office will also end the practice of limiting post-indictment pleas to top counts only and consider all options for resolving a case.
"[These policies] did not, in my opinion, further the cause of justice," she said Monday.
The wrongful convictions unit, named the Conviction Integrity Unit, will be led by Bryce Benjet, who most recently worked on exonerating people through DNA evidence as a senior staff attorney with the Innocence Project.
"A wrongful conviction not only destroys the life of that innocent individual and his or her family, but it also undermines the faith we all have in our justice system," the DA's office explained in a press release Monday.
Katz's office is also working to improve its response to hate crimes and to the issues immigrants face, she said.
In her inaugural address Monday night, Katz also discussed bail reform, saying her goal of ending cash bail was not possible on her first day in office because more infrastructure is needed.
"My office is committed to ending cash bail, in all forms, period, but it must be done right," Katz said.
The Community Partnerships Division was previously named the Special Prosecutions Division, according to the press release. In its new iteration, the unit will focus on getting guns off the streets, helping young people and providing diversion options.
Colleen Babb, who will be executive assistant district attorney for the Community Partnerships Division, previously worked as Queens borough chief of the New York City Law Department-Office of Corporation Counsel, where she was involved with the implementation of the Raise the Age Law.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James praised Katz for appointing a majority-female executive team at Katz's formal inauguration Monday night. Katz is also the first female DA elected in the county.
The ceremony was held at St. John's University, where Katz attended law school. Law school Dean Michael Simons pointed out that Katz passed the bar exam in 1991, the same year former Queens DA Richard Brown was appointed as district attorney. Brown stayed in the role until he died in 2019.
"This ceremony marks not just a changing of the guard, but a changing of the way the office of district attorney is conceived," Simons said.
Katz, who cruised to victory as a Democrat in the general election, made a few jokes during her inaugural address about her close primary victory. Uncertainty about the June election lasted into August after public defender Tiffany Cabán made an unexpectedly strong showing. Cabán attracted national attention by campaigning for major structural change in Queens, but Katz repeatedly pointed out the progressiveness of her own platform.
"It is clear, looking back, that this position is the outcome of the path that I have followed my entire life. … The willingness to take action to do what's right has always been the foundation of public service," Katz said in her inaugural address.
The other newly appointed members of Katz's executive team are:
- Camille Chin-Kee-Fatt, chief of staff/administration.
- John Castellano, counsel to the district attorney.
- Angela Albertus, executive assistant district attorney of the Criminal Practice and Policy Division.
- Pishoy Yacoub, executive assistant district attorney of the Supreme Court Trial Division.
- Johnnette Traill, executive assistant district attorney of the Appeals and Special Litigation Division.
- Daniel Saunders, executive assistant district attorney of the Major Crimes Division.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Hochul Vetoes 'Grieving Families' Bill, Faulting a Lack of Changes to Suit Her Concerns
Court System Names New Administrative Judges for New York City Courts in Leadership Shakeup
3 minute read
Retired Judge Susan Cacace Elected Westchester DA in Win for Democrats
Trending Stories
- 1'Largest Retail Data Breach in History'? Hot Topic and Affiliated Brands Sued for Alleged Failure to Prevent Data Breach Linked to Snowflake Software
- 2Former President of New York State Bar, and the New York Bar Foundation, Dies As He Entered 70th Year as Attorney
- 3Legal Advocates in Uproar Upon Release of Footage Showing CO's Beat Black Inmate Before His Death
- 4Longtime Baker & Hostetler Partner, Former White House Counsel David Rivkin Dies at 68
- 5Court System Seeks Public Comment on E-Filing for Annual Report
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
