Washington, DC
(Aug. 10, 2011) – Lisa Monet Wayne of Denver, Colo., was sworn in as President
of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the
Association’s 53rd Annual Meeting in Denver, Colo., on Aug. 6. This
is Wayne’s sixth officer position on NACDL’s Executive Committee, having
previously served as the Association’s President-Elect (2010-11), First Vice
President (2009-10), Second Vice President (2008-09), Treasurer (2007-08), and
Secretary (2006-07).
Lisa Wayne is an attorney in
private practice in Denver and Boulder, Colo. She has her own law practice and
is Of Counsel at Gerash &
Steiner, P.C. Wayne practices at both the federal and state levels around the
country and defends criminal matters from the investigatory phase through the
criminal process. This includes white collar, violent crimes and a wide range
of serious criminal allegations against both individuals and corporations.
Previously, Wayne was a Colorado State Public Defender for 13 years where she
served as office head, training director, and senior trial attorney. She
lectures nationally with NACDL, National Criminal Defense College, National
Institute of Trial Advocacy, American Bar Association, and other legal
organizations.
Wayne is currently an adjunct
law professor at the University of Colorado where she teaches trial advocacy,
and she serves on faculty at the Trial Practice Institute at Harvard Law
School, The National Criminal Defense College, and Cardozo Law School. She is a
member of the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Colorado Rules
of Professional Conduct and is a legal analyst regarding high profile cases
around the country. In 2005, Wayne was honored with the Robert J. Heeney Award,
NACDL’s most prestigious recognition.
Among Wayne’s goals for her
year as president are pretrial detention and discovery reforms. “One of the
greatest injustices in America’s criminal justice system is the injustice that
rears its head within hours of an arrest,” Wayne said. “The American system
of pretrial justice is a national embarrassment. The money-based bail
system imprisons hundreds of thousands of presumptively innocent people every
year. Many are held on minor charges and will spend more time in jail before
their case is adjudicated than they will even if they are found guilty.”
“The system systematically
coerces guilty pleas, even from the innocent, and studies prove that racial
disparity is prevalent,” Wayne explained.
In federal and state courts,
evidence favorable to the accused is routinely withheld by prosecutors in
violation of defendants’ due process rights. Wayne said that discovery reform
will be a prime objective for NACDL in the coming year. “It’s time to take the
gamesmanship out of the criminal justice system,” she said.
Wayne also spoke about her
swearing-in from a personal perspective. “Who can say what really ignites the
spark that propels a person on a particular career path? All I know is
that I came out of childhood with a gritty determination to be a criminal defense
lawyer. I was infused with that insatiable desire to stand with the
accused, to stand down injustice and to stand up for the dignity of every
person.” Wayne is the first African American woman to serve as President
of NACDL.
A photograph of Lisa Monet Wayne
is attached. Credit: K.R.R.
Photography, Ltd. for NACDL, copyright 2011.