Melinda R. Katz, Queens district attorney.

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.