The Criminal Justice
Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) will recognize the Honorable Michael M. Mohun (Bennington, NY), Wyoming County Court Judge, with the Vincent E. Doyle
Jr. Award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal Justice System
on Wednesday, January 29 at the NYSBA Annual Meeting.
The Doyle Award
recognizes judicial efforts to improve the administration of the criminal justice
system.
Mohun has been presiding
over the Wyoming County Treatment Court since 2014. He has had a substantial
impact on assuring that defendants receive the treatment they need but also on
aiding them to find appropriate housing and employment. Under his leadership
the court has taken steps to address issues faced by county jail inmates
including improved and expanded educational opportunities, medication-assisted
therapy programs, and a re-entry initiative that has led many to make
successful returns to the community.
The Criminal Justice
Section will also be honoring the following individuals with awards at the
NYSBA Annual Meeting:
Bruce A.
Barket, of Manhasset, NY will receive the Charles F.
Crimi Memorial Award. The award recognizes the professional career of a defense
attorney in private practice who embodies the highest ideas of the Criminal
Justice Section. Barket, founding partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea &
LoTurco, LLP, has been a defense lawyer since for nearly 30 years specializing
in representing among others, individuals that have been wrongfully arrested or
convicted, as well as those that have suffered injuries as a result of
excessive force or police misconduct.
Bridget G.
Brennan, Esq., of New York, will receive
the Outstanding Prosecutor Award. Brennan has been New York City’s Special
Narcotics Prosecutor since 1998 and is the first woman to head the agency,
which formed in 1971. During her 21 years leading the office, Brennan was a pioneer
in offering treatment to qualified addicted defendants as an alternative to
incarceration. She has also reshaped strategies to effectively respond to
changes in substances being trafficked and the criminal organizations supplying
them. Under her watch, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor has been
widely recognized for its legal and technological expertise and prosecution of
national and international drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
She has also established several specialized units concentrating on digital
forensics, narcotics gangs, money laundering and related financial crimes.
Ronald F.
Kennedy, Esq., of Albany will receive
the Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Criminal Justice Legislation
award. Kennedy is the Director of Governmental Relations for NYSBA, where he is
responsible for assisting the NYSBA’s leadership in developing and promoting
its legislative program. Prior to joining the staff at NYSBA 24 years ago, he
served as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Department of Law,
where he represented state agencies in the prosecution of civil claims for
money damages.
Justine
Olderman, Esq., of Brooklyn will receive
the Michele S. Maxian Award for Outstanding Public Defense Practitioner. Olderman
is the Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders (BxD), a public defender
nonprofit that represents low-income people in the Bronx. With over 19 years of
experience representing clients in complex criminal matters, she is a
sought-after lecturer and trainer on trial skills, bail advocacy, legal writing
and attorney-client relationship. She joined BxD in 2000 as a staff attorney
and soon after she was named managing attorney of the criminal defense
practice, where she oversaw the expansion of that program from over 12,000
cases per year to over 30,000 cases.
Lieutenant
Alaric Piette, United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corp (JAGC), will receive the David S. Michaels Memorial Award, which recognizes
courageous efforts in promoting integrity, justice, and fairness in the
criminal justice system. Piette is a lawyer in the JAGC where he currently
represents Abdul Rahim Al-Nashri who is charged with dozens of war crimes,
ranging from terrorism to murder, stemming from the 1998 attack on the Navy
destroyer USS Cole. Piette has represented dozens of sailors, marines, and
coast guardsmen in the military criminal system having negotiated numerous
favorable plea agreements for his clients.
Jonathan E.
Gradess, Esq., (In Memoriam), will be honored by his
former colleagues at the New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) with the
Outstanding Contribution to the Bar and the Community. Gradess served as executive
director of NYSDA from 1973 to 2017, before retiring and untimely passing away
in October of 2019. During his 39 years at NYSDA, he fought for improvements in
the representation of public defense clients and built NYSDA into a well-recognized
source of assistance to public defense providers. Gradess was instrumental in
creating and maintaining NYSDA’s Basic Trial Skills Program, which has shown
lawyers the effects of poverty and racism on clients’ lives and cases for over
30 years.
Honoring attorneys who
render extraordinary service to the public and the profession is part of
NYSBA’s Annual Meeting, which each January attracts thousands of lawyers from
around the state, the nation and the world. They come to meet and connect with
colleagues and to learn from experts in many areas of law.
A wide range of programs at NYSBA’s 143rd Annual
Meeting January 27-31 explores current issues for lawyers and legal practice.
The Presidential Summit on Wednesday, January 29,
will look at White Nationalism and Domestic Terrorism in America. At
Thursday evening’s sold-out Gala Dinner, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice
Elena Kagan will receive the Gold Medal, NYSBA’s highest honor, and participate
in a fireside-style chat with Prof. John Barrett of St. John’s University
School of Law.
Other featured speakers at the Annual Meeting
include New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the first African
American and the first woman elected to that office; Janet DiFiore, chief judge
of the New York State Court of Appeals; and Craig Boise, dean of Syracuse
University College of Law.
For more information on
NYSBA’s Annual Meeting, click here.
About the New York
State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar
association in the nation. Since 1876, NYSBA has helped shape the development
of law, educated and informed the legal profession and the public, and
championed the rights of New Yorkers through advocacy and guidance in our
communities.
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Contact: Brendan Kennedy
[email protected]
518-487-5541
