from staff
Fourth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk recently announced the recipients of his office’s annual awards.
The “2010 Exemplary Trial Team Award” was given to the team in “The State vs. Breon Glenn.” The trial concluded April 21 when a jury found Glenn not guilty of second-degree murder. The defense completed discovery and tried the case to verdict all before the time allotment for a speedy trial expired.
Public Defender individual awards
Fourth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk announced the individual recipients of his office’s annual awards.
• Trial Lawyer of the Year: Assistant Public Defender Sandra Young. Presently a division chief in the Felony Court Unit, Young began with the office in August 1998. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. There are 74 attorneys on staff eligible for the nomination. The full staff of 144 in the Fourth Judicial Circuit votes for the award.
• Duval County Employee of the Year: Legal Assistant Rosa Simons. Simons has been employed full-time with the office for nearly three years and serves as a legal assistant in the Circuit Court Unit. She earned a degree with honors in Criminal Justice from the University of North Florida. She begins working toward paralegal certification in January at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
• Clay County Employee of the Year: Legal Assistant Beth Frill. Frill has been with the office in Clay County for 11 years and serves as a legal assistant.
• Nassau County Employee of the Year: Investigator Len Johnson. Johnson has served in the office since January 2009 as the lead investigator for Nassau County. Before that, he spent nearly 24 years with the State Attorney’s Office, first as a paralegal and later as an investigator in Nassau County. Johnson earned a degree in Criminal Justice at UNF.