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Staff |
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To
e-mail our staff members, simply click on their photo.
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Richard Bourke
is the director of the LCAC. He graduated from the Melbourne
University School of Law in Australia where he also gained a
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology and Criminology.
Richard came to New Orleans to volunteer and then worked at the
LCAC after pursuing a successful career as a criminal barrister
in Australia. Richard is certified as capital trial lead
counsel in Louisiana and also represents defendants in state and
federal capital post-conviction proceedings in Texas and
Mississippi. Before his legal career, Richard worked as a youth
counselor and social worker with adolescent victims of physical
and sexual abuse.
Richard is licensed in
Louisiana, Texas, federal court and the United States Supreme
Court.
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Kim Watts
is the LCAC's Office Manager, Personnel Director and Financial
Manager. Kim single-handedly manages an array of duties ranging
from reception to financial planning. Kim also deals with staff
needs such as health plans, leave, work environment and
equipment. Kim earned a degree in Political Science from Xavier
University while working her way through school. She has worked
to organize a student forum on racism and campaigned for several
political candidates. While at Xavier, Kim undertook an
internship with the Loyola Death Penalty Resource Center and was
later employed by it as a research assistant. Prior to her
arrival at the LCAC, Kim was a legal secretary/paralegal for
Loyola's Post-Conviction Defender Organization.
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Danalynn Recer
is of counsel with the LCAC. She graduated from the University
of Texas School of Law. Danalynn has represented capital
defendants at all stages of the process, primarily in Louisiana
and Texas. Previous employment includes a position as an
investigator with the celebrated Texas Resource Center in 1992,
and after in 1993, she became a Law Fellow with the agency.
Danalynn is currently directing the
Gulf Region Advocacy Center
(GRACE), in Houston, Texas, which aims to tackle the grave
problems facing indigent defense and capital defendants across
the border.
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Eleni Antonopoulos
is the lead investigator and mitigation specialist for LCAC.
Eleni graduated from the Monash University Law School after
having previously completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in
Politics. A former intern of the LCAC, Eleni returned from her
native Australia to take her current position. In addition to
her work for clients in Louisiana, Eleni has worked on a number
of complex and difficult death penalty cases in Texas and
Singapore. In 2005, Eleni was awarded the inaugural Reprieve
Capital Defense Fellowship. Before moving to America, Eleni
worked as a personal care assistant for terminally-ill patients,
and donated her energies to numerous charities, including
ReprieveAustralia and Amnesty International.
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Rachel Jones is a staff attorney at the LCAC. She
graduated from NYU Law School and during her time there
participated in a capital defender clinic, working with
attorneys from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on capital cases in
Mississippi and Louisiana. Prior to joining the LCAC, Rachel
worked as a public defender in Brooklyn, New York representing
indigent criminal defendants. Rachel is admitted to practice in
state and federal court in Louisiana as well as in New York
State and is certified as capital trial associate counsel in
Louisiana. Before her legal career, Rachel taught third grade
reading at an alternative public elementary school in Harlem. |
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Christine Lehmann is a
staff attorney at the LCAC. Christine graduated from Yale Law
School after previously completing a Masters in Theology at
Harvard. Christine is admitted to practice in Louisiana and
certified as capital trial associate counsel in this state. She
clerked in the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals before
beginning work as a staff attorney at the LCAC in 2002. Over the
next few years she developed a particular expertise in working
with clients with mental retardation. In October 2006,
Christine left the office temporarily to help reform the Orleans
indigent defender program. She became director of the Orleans
Public Defenders in April 2007, and remained at that position
through August 2008, during which time she oversaw tremendous
structural reform. She returned to the LCAC in September 2008. |
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Annie Preziosi is a staff investigator for LCAC.
She completed a BA with honors at NYU, where she double majored
in Fine Arts and Anthropology, and was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa. She completed her Masters in Education in 2007, with a
concentration in Special Education. Prior to joining the LCAC,
Annie was teaching special needs children in Brooklyn. She
taught children labeled with severe emotional disturbance,
learning disabilities, speech impairments and developmental
delays. As an undergraduate, she worked and interned at Creative
Time, a not-for-profit that presents temporary public art
projects, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
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Ashley Cusick is a staff investigator for LCAC.
She earned a BA in Sociology and Women's Studies at Bowdoin
College. While an undergraduate, she completed a year-long study
on the preparation process for prisoners about to reenter rural
and urban communities in Maine. Ashley moved to New Orleans in
2005 as a member of Teach for America. When Hurricane Katrina
caused her school to close, she worked with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency to assist hurricane victims in
attaining access to relief funds and other disaster services.
Prior to coming to the LCAC, Ashley had resumed teaching as a
seventh grade math and social studies instructor at Samuel J.
Green Charter Middle School.
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Cormac Boyle
is a staff investigator for LCAC. He is a graduate of Fordham
University, with a degree in Philosophy and Art History. Prior
to coming to the LCAC, he worked at the Queens and Kings county
offices of the Legal Aid Society in New York City, assisting on
juvenile delinquency and child protective proceedings. Before
working on legal matters for the indigent, Cormac taught at
numerous schools throughout New York City as well as on the Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. |
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Kirstin Ramsay is a staff attorney at the LCAC. She
graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law,
where she served as the Membership Manager and a Staff Writer
for the Connecticut Law Review and was awarded the Public
Interest Law Group Fellowship for excellence in and commitment
to public service. During law school, she interned with the
Federal Defender and the Capital Habeas Unit for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. Kirstin also participated in the
Indigent Criminal Trial Clinic, the Juvenile Clinic and the
Asylum and Human Rights Clinic. Before her legal career,
Kirstin was an investigator at the Public Defender Service for
the District of Columbia.
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Jennifer Sullivan
is a staff investigator for LCAC. She
completed a BA in Psychology at UW-Milwaukee and went on to
complete her MA in Criminal Justice at UI-Chicago. As an
undergraduate, she completed training and became certified as a
registered diplomate with the American Board of Medicolegal
Death Investigators. While a graduate, she participated in the
Chicago Area Study, assessing the impacts of gentrification on
Chicago’s historic North Lawndale community. Prior to working
for LCAC, Jennifer worked as a therapist for children at the
Center for Autism Intervention.
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Al
Grandoit
is a staff investigator for LCAC. He is a graduate of University
of South Florida, with a degree in Political Science and minor
in Public Administration. After receiving his undergraduate
degree, he worked with Florida’s Department of Children and
Families and Office of the Attorney General and conducted child
abuse investigations and assisted in coordinating protective
services. Al later moved to Massachusetts to pursue his Masters
in Government at Harvard University. While in Massachusetts, Al
continued working with at risk youth and families for various
family support and community outreach programs, and volunteered
as a community court mediator.
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