from staff
Fourth Judicial Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk has announced three new attorney appointments, one staff assistant appointment and two Duval County Assistant Public Defender promotions to the Capital Crimes Unit.
They include:
• Belkis Plata, appointed Assistant Public Defender to the Juvenile Unit in November. She is a May 2010 graduate of the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
• Ronald L. Roberts Jr., appointed Assistant Public Defender in the County Court Unit in December, where he handles a misdemeanor caseload. Roberts earned his juris doctorate at Florida Coastal School of Law in 2009 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida in political science in 2007.
• Ellen Godwin, hired as intake clerk in the Public Defender Office in November. She attended Florida State College.
• Larry Sikes, named Assistant Public Defender in Nassau County in January. He is assigned to Juvenile, Misdemeanor and Mental Health Court in the Yulee office. He graduated from Mercer Law School in 1986 and earned his bachelor’s in sociology from the University of North Florida in 1977.
• Assistant Public Defender Michael Bateh moves to the Capital Crimes Unit after serving a year as Felony Unit Division Chief. Bateh has served as Assistant Public Defender since January 2009 and previously from 2000-05. Bateh earned his juris doctorate from Florida Coastal School of Law in 1999 and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida.
• Assistant Public Defender Al Perkins was promoted to the Capital Crimes Unit after a year serving in the Major Crimes Unit. Perkins has 19 years of experience working as an Assistant Public Defender in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas Law School and earned an engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin.