August 21, 2000

DISTRICT ATTORNEY BROWN APPOINTS 18 NEW ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the appointment of 18 recent law school graduates as Assistant District Attorneys. The new prosecutors were sworn at a ceremony in the District Attorney’s Office today.

District Attorney Brown said, "These young men and women were hired after a highly selective recruitment process that I established soon after I became the District Attorney. They are bright young professionals from some of the nation’s finest law schools who have elected to enter public service. I am proud to appoint them to serve the people of Queens County. I know that they will serve with distinction."

The Class of 2000 will begin their prosecutorial careers with an intensive month-long training course supervised by Executive Assistant District Attorney Gary S. Fidel and led by Assistant District Attorney Steven L. Schwartz, Director of Trial Advocacy.

Over the next several weeks, the new assistant district attorneys will add to their knowledge of the law through lectures, courtroom observation and mock hearings. They will also receive practical, hands-on experience by going out on patrol with police officers, participating in simulations at the New York Police Department’s Tactics House and studying firearms at the Police Department’s outdoor firing range. The course also includes visits to correctional and alternative sentencing programs.

After completing their initial training, the Class of 2000 will commence a carefully structured multi-year program designed to guarantee expertise in all areas of a prosecution. Initially, they will be assigned to the Intake, Criminal Court and Family Court Bureaus. Thereafter, they will work in the Appeals, Grand Jury and Homicide Investigations Bureaus. Finally, after about two years, they will enter an intensive trial training program prior to being assigned to the Supreme Court Trial Bureau.

The new prosecutors and the law schools from which they graduated are: Daniel Bresnahan, Brooklyn; Anjanette Cabrera, Brooklyn; Sonya Cardia, CUNY; Rosemary Chao, Albany; David Chiang, Fordham; Benjamin Darche, New York; Sherman Jackson, Buffalo; Brendan Kearns, St. John's; Susan Lee Kim, University of Chicago; Debra Kondel, Touro; Doreen Martin, Albany; Jessica Melton, St. John's; Kimberly Nielsen, American; Brian O'Connor, CUNY; Eleanora Rivkin, Brooklyn; Doric Sam, St. John's; Avemaria Thompson, Touro and Michael Wiesenfeld, University of Pennsylvania.