The Committee presented the awards at an in-person Awards Ceremony at Suffolk University Law School on May 28, 2025.
CPCS Annual Awards 2025 on Vimeo
Congratulations to this year’s Award Winners.
CPCS Community Leadership Award
The CPCS Community Leadership Award goes to a person or organization dedicated to the work that we do and the communities that we serve. The winner of this award will have undertaken a forward-looking campaign, or be committed to an ongoing mission, that directly benefits our clients and the communities in which they live and embodies the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence.
Kristen J. Graves & Arnie Lucinda Stewart
Kristen J. Graves has been a Trial Attorney in the Public Defender Division with the Committee for Public Counsel Services since 2007.
In 2022, Attorney Graves completed a yearlong certificate program on restorative justice leadership practices at Suffolk University’s Center for Restorative Justice. She then convened a Working Group at CPCS to review its current understanding of Restorative Justice practices, to examine the potential for Restorative Justice across all practice areas at CPCS, to identify resources and community partners, and recommend internal policies and practices. This work is ongoing.
In 2023, Attorney Graves was appointed to the SJC Committee on Restorative Justice. This SJC Committee has developed a Restorative Justice pilot program for the Trial Court, which is currently available for cases pending in the Roxbury Division of the Boston Municipal Court. It is expected that restorative justice will be available in the Brockton District Court in the summer of 2025, and later in the Plymouth and Suffolk Superior Courts.
Currently, the CPCS Restorative Justice Working Group supports the efforts of the Trial Court Pilot Program as well as other restorative justice initiatives currently underway in the Commonwealth.
Jane Addams Award for Outstanding Social Service Accomplishments
The Jane Addams Award for Outstanding Social Service Accomplishments honors a staff social worker or social service advocate who exemplifies a commitment to clients through their advocacy, support, and dedication consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. The Addams Award recognizes the profound impact of social workers and social service advocates serving as members of a legal team. It is named for Jane Addams, a pioneer in establishing the field of social work and the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
Daniel Tompkins
For more than 10 years, Daniel Tompkins has worked with marginalized communities in the United States and internationally. Daniel has spent four of those years at CPCS working as a social service advocate in the Mental Health Litigation Division in Roxbury, supporting individuals facing civil commitments. Prior to CPCS, he spent five years working as a paralegal for a civil rights and criminal defense attorney in Boston. Also in Massachusetts, Daniel spent time working with adults with intellectual disabilities, and elders who are low income.
Daniel also worked for a number of years at a homeless shelter in Lincoln Nebraska. He also spent a few years in Ethiopia, Egypt and Yemen working with refugees and internally displaced persons due to conflicts in those areas.
Daniel is also a proud husband of 12 years, and proud dad of an 1-year old girl and 9-year-old boy.
2025 Emerging Defenders
The Emerging Defender Awards are presented to one or more individuals committed to indigent defense who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, excelled when facing challenging situations, and shown they are highly motivated to continuously learn and improve. Recipients of this award will have been employed with CPCS or worked with CPCS clients for five or fewer years and demonstrated a commitment to the agency’s core values of courage, accountability, respect and excellence.
Kylah Isabelle Clay, Cristina Poulter Carrier, Marc Conforto & Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti
not pictured Rufus Earl Burgess V & Nicole Collins
Margaret Winchester Parent and Child Defender Award
The Margaret Winchester Parent and Child Defender Award honors a person who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the families of Massachusetts by protecting the rights of parents, children, and other parties in care and protection and other family regulation/child welfare cases, consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. The recipient is someone who, much like Attorney Winchester, is a champion for children, parents, and others, assuring that they are treated equitably and with dignity in the courtroom, in the community, and in their dealings with the Department of Children and Families.
Katy Krywonis & Amy Karp
Katy Krywonis joined CAFL in 2011 and began representing children, parents and young adults in care and protection and child requiring assistance cases. In 2016, she transitioned to CAFL training, while continuing to maintain a small caseload. She is currently serving as the interim AIC for the Brockton CAFL office.
Katy leaves no stone unturned in her representation. She thinks through every avenue of her case strategy and pursues creative legal arguments. She is a fierce advocate and always speaks up when DCF or the court fails to meet her high expectations.
Katy’s contributions to training are numerous. She oversaw a complete rewrite of our two-volume “MCLE Practitioners Guide to State Intervention in the Family”. The new edition reflects her exceptional writing skills as well as her deep knowledge of the law and practice.
While helping to deliver countless trainings, three recent programs stand out. Katy created a series on gender affirming medical care for children in DCF custody. She also worked with a national expert and local practitioners to deliver a novel training on the harms of family separation and how to integrate that information into client advocacy. Most recently, Katy created a full day, interactive training on representing children. Many participants have described it as the best training they’ve ever attended.
Willie J. Davis and Edward J. Duggan Award for Outstanding Criminal Defense Advocacy – Private Counsel
The Willie J. Davis and Edward J. Duggan Award for Outstanding Criminal Defense Advocacy award is given to both a Public Defender Division and Private Counsel attorney and is named for two extraordinary leaders. The awards are presented to criminal defense attorneys who demonstrate exceptional skill, determination, compassion, and courage while zealously representing indigent clients in the trial courts of the Massachusetts criminal legal system consistent with the CPCS core values of care, accountability, respect, and excellence.
Matthew Gilbertson & Debra DeWitt Ahern
Attorney Debra DeWitt Ahern began practicing law in 1990. Since then, she has dedicated herself to ensuring that those who are charged with a crime in Lowell receive prompt zealous representation. Debra has set the standard for the Lowell Bar Advocates.
Throughout her career, Debra has dedicated herself to indigent defense. After four years on the District Court and Juvenile Panels, she began accepting assignments in Superior Court. Six years later, Debra joined the Murder Panel. To date, she has tried more than a dozen first degree murder cases.
When she is not on trial, Debra finds time to give back to the legal profession. She is the Vice President of the Middlesex Defense Attorneys, a past president and current treasurer of the Greater Lowell Bar Association, and a member of MACDL. Debra has presented numerous CLE programs including those sponsored by the Greater Lowell Bar Association and the Middlesex Defense Attorneys. She is also the co-chair of the MCLE program Prosecuting and Defending Homicide Cases.
To this day, Attorney DeWitt continues to represent her clients with as much zealousness and compassion as she did 35 years ago.
Willie J. Davis and Edward J. Duggan Award for Outstanding Criminal Defense Advocacy – Public Counsel
The Willie J. Davis and Edward J. Duggan Award for Outstanding Criminal Defense Advocacy award is given to both a Public Defender Division and Private Counsel attorney and is named for two extraordinary leaders. The awards are presented to criminal defense attorneys who demonstrate exceptional skill, determination, compassion, and courage while zealously representing indigent clients in the trial courts of the Massachusetts criminal legal system consistent with the CPCS core values of care, accountability, respect, and excellence.
Olivia Mercadante Alexandru & Arnie Lucinda Stewart
Massachusetts native and has been working for the Committee for Public Counsel Services Public Defender Division since August of 2014. Olivia Mercadante graduated New York University’s Gallatin School in 2009, receiving the Founders Day Award for academic achievement. Olivia attended Boston College Law School, where she completed her degree by with a semester in practice in Decatur, GA at the Dekalb County Public Defender’s office, and graduated in 2013.
In the winter of 2014, Olivia began her journey with CPCS in Lowell as a volunteer attorney before joining as a staff attorney in Springfield in August, 2014. In December of 2022, she had her first jury trial in Superior Court and has since tried and won cases alleging home invasion, armed robbery, human trafficking of a child, armed assault to murder and forcible rape of a child, and carrying a loaded firearm. She became Murder List Certified in March 2025. After serving as an interim supervisor in 2024, in May of 2025 she eagerly began a three-year rotation with the CPCS Criminal Defense Training Unit. She extends her gratitude to her family for their ongoing support of her career, and to the Springfield office. Her favorite part of being a public defender is legal writing, specifically generating unusual or novel legal arguments, as well as sharing the life stories of her clients in sentencing mitigation.
She lives in Connecticut with her spouse, Matei, son Atlas Gideon, and dog Igneus, and enjoys fiction writing, fine art, and home renovation.
Teresa McParland Award for Operational Excellence
The Teresa McParland Award for Operational Excellence is presented to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improving agency operations in service to our clients through enhancing agency performance consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. These attributes were all hallmarks of Terry McParland during her CPCS career. The award honors Operations staff who exhibit extraordinary dedication, action, vision, passion, and creativity in improving the services, systems, quality of life, efficiency, and environment provided to agency staff, clients, and private counsel.
Bob Vient, Rajae Menaouar & Jon Bartelson
Since joining CPCS in March 2021, Rajae Menaouar has consistently demonstrated exceptional technical expertise,
professionalism, and dedication as an IT Support Specialist. With a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Lesley University and multiple IT certifications, including the Google IT Support Professional Certification, Rajae brings a unique combination of technical skill and business insight to her role.
Rajae has made several outstanding contributions to improve agency operations by streamlining onboarding for interns and new employees, cultivating a supportive and understanding environment when addressing help desk requests, and she consistently furthers the agency’s core values in her everyday interactions.
Driven by continuous learning and professional growth, Rajae remains committed to CPCS’s mission exhibiting extraordinary dedication, passion, creativity in improving services and systems within the agency. Rajae’s ability to blend technical mastery with empathetic support and cross-cultural communication makes her a vital contributor to the success of CPCS as an agency.
2025 Emerging Defenders
Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti, Lauren Looney, Danielle LaChance, Eric Harrell, Marie Elmidor & Elizabeth Crisman
Carol A. Donovan Award for Exceptional Advocacy
The Carol A. Donovan Award for Exceptional Advocacy recognizes excellence in legal advocacy and is given to attorneys – public or private – whose zealous advocacy has had a lasting impact on the legal and/or life outcomes experienced by our clients. Recipients will demonstrate the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence through appellate or other strategic litigation while addressing systemic injustice affecting CPCS clients and the communities in which they live.
Pasqua Scibelli & Elizabeth Caddick
Elizabeth Caddick is a long-standing member of the CPCS murder, Superior Court criminal, and YAD and SORB appellate panels. She has worked at the intersection of SORB administrative proceedings and their draconian criminal consequences. Over the years, she has had remarkable success in vindicating clients rights and shaping the law favorably toward our clients.
In multiple appeals, she won cases that led to clients gaining release and greater due process rights: Commonwealth v. Maker, 459 Mass. 46 (2010) (Failure to Register); Commonwealth v. Williamson, 462 Mass. 676 (2012) (Lifetime Community Parole); Doe #6904, 82 Mass.App.Ct. 67 (2012) (SORB Hearing); Doe 24341, 74 Mass.App.Ct.383 (2009) (SORB Hearing).
In her zeal to protect juveniles from the onerous effects of SORB registration, she has helped many clients lower their levels or get off the registry. She has challenged the constitutionality of registering juveniles as sex offenders in multiple cases, both on appeal and currently in a declaratory judgment action.
Elizabeth is a consummate professional who shares her time generously with colleagues in and out of court, as a mentor and trainer to newer attorneys, and answering questions on the busy listserv. She sets a high standard to the great benefit of our clients and attorneys.
Maura Mellen Administrative Professional Award
The Maura Mellen Administrative Professional Award honors an administrative staff member who has made an outstanding contribution to the delivery of zealous and effective advocacy for CPCS clients consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. The award recognizes that administrative staff members perform many critical roles in the provision of zealous representation to CPCS clients.
Natasha Mobley & Duci Goncalves
Natasha Mobley is a vital part of the Salem Youth Advocacy Division office and the Committee for Public Counsel Services. Known for her reliability, warmth, and unmatched dedication, Natasha consistently goes beyond expectations to support her team, serve clients and strengthen operations. She played a key role in helping her office transition during the onset of the pandemic, ensuring no detail was overlooked. Since then, Natasha has continued to be a steady force— efficiently obtaining records, assisting new staff and ensuring responsiveness to court demands. Her open-door approach, deep institutional knowledge and calm professionalism make her a trusted resource to all.
Natasha is deeply committed to growth and service. She actively participates in trainings, contributes to improving office systems and forms, and is currently pursuing a college degree. She is also engaged in efforts to increase community involvement, reflecting her dedication to both clients and the broader mission of CPCS.
More than just an administrative professional, Natasha is a source of emotional support, a collaborative partner, and the glue that holds the Salem YAD team together. Her presence uplifts those around her, and her contributions are truly irreplaceable.
2025 Emerging Defenders
Rebecca Wasserman, Jacob Steinmann, Darrin Sloan, Iashai Stephens, Jessica Frazier Vasquez & Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti
Paul J. Liacos Mental Health Advocacy Award
The Paul J. Liacos Mental Health Advocacy Award recognizes a staff or private attorney whose advocacy on behalf of persons involved in mental health litigation proceedings exemplifies client centered zealous advocacy consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. The award honors a person whose advocacy has made a meaningful impact in furtherance of our clients’ interest in due process of law, personal autonomy, and the ability to live an independent life.
Laura Sanford & Tamara Barney
Tamara Barney, Mental Health Litigation Division’s fearless vanguard is always ready to take the initiative to try something new, reach out, and ask the hard questions to address systemic issues affecting our clients and lawyers. Tamara has been the Attorney in-Charge of the Worcester MHLD’s staff office since 2013. Tamara’s flawless patient, though insistent, demeanor — despite the antics of opposing counsel or agitated adjudicator — inspires us to follow suit. As AIC, Tamara leads her office and represents MHLD clients in District Court, Superior Court, District Court Appellate Division, Appeals Court, and Supreme Judicial Court Single Justice cases. Tamara has devoted her legal career to indigent defense since graduating from Boston University School of Law in 1993 (and the University of California at Berkeley in 1989). She started with the Alameda County, CA Public Defender’s Office, where she practiced for seven years. In 2002, Tamara became Of Counsel to the Providence, Rhode Island firm, Gescheidt & O’Brien, later MacFadyen, Gescheidt & O’Brien, where she was involved in all aspects of federal and state criminal defense trial and appellate work. From 2002 to 2011, Tamara also served on the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) First Circuit Panel, where she represented indigent defendants on appeal. In 2002, Tamara began accepting assignments as a member of the private bar panel representing clients in Mental Health Litigation Division proceedings in Bristol County. She joined the CPCS Brockton Commitment Unit as a staff attorney on Sept 1, 2011. Tamara’s relentless work ethic, model courtroom presence, stellar writing ability, legal acumen, curiosity and foresight to bring us to the cutting edge are rivalled only by her extraordinary capacity to connect with her clients.
Maria Souto–Armand Goyette Investigator Award
The Maria Souto–Armand Goyette Investigator Award honors a staff investigator for outstanding investigative work consistent with the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence. Maria Souto, an indefatigable CPCS investigator in the Boston Trial office, and Armand Goyette, the first investigator at the Massachusetts Defenders Committee, established a standard for zealous, insightful, and skilled investigation that is still the national gold standard.
Kyle Cormier & David Kotschenreuther
David Kotschenreuther has worked for the past year as a CPCS Criminal Defense Investigator in Middlesex County on adult, emerging adult and juvenile cases. David grew up in Central Massachusetts and recently returned to the area after years in Texas and overseas in the Army. David learned much of what he knows from the US Army where he served as an enlisted and civilian criminal investigator; he also worked for many years as an Investigator for the State of Texas where he focused on building cases against fraudsters (particularly focusing on career schools, building contractors, and insurance schemes by vehicle towing/storage/repair companies.) David worked briefly as a city housing/code enforcement inspector and in the insurance industry before joining CPCS.
David holds a Master’s degree in Legal Studies and is currently pursuing further graduate studies; he lives in Southern New Hampshire with his wife, Hue, and son, Alex, and enjoys hiking in the mountains whenever the opportunity presents itself. David’s main sources of motivation are a firm sense of duty to protect clients’ Constitutional rights, and disdain for bad police work (whether it be sloppy, incomplete or dishonest.)
Jay D. Blitzman Award for Youth Advocacy
The Jay D. Blitzman Award for Youth Advocacy is presented to a person who has demonstrated a commitment to courageously advocating for the rights of children and youth, which was the hallmark of Judge Blitzman’s long career. The award honors an advocate who exemplifies the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence and has exhibited extraordinary dedication, compassion and skill to assure that children accused of criminal conduct, or otherwise at risk, are treated fairly, equitably, and with dignity in the courtroom, in the community, and in the custody of the state.
Dana A. Sargent & Duci Goncalves
Attorney Dana A. Sargent has provided outstanding legal representation for over 25 years, including in some of Massachusetts’ most complex cases, such as murder trials. A leader in juvenile defense, Dana is deeply committed to the fair treatment of children accused of crimes. As the Juvenile Supervising Attorney in Bristol County for the past five years, he has mentored numerous attorneys, preparing them to represent clients with skill and compassion.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dana served as the only private attorney on the CPCS Juvenile Court Covid-19 Advisory Board, working tirelessly to ensure access to counsel and protect the rights of youth. He has tried over 50 jury trials in both juvenile and adult courts, covering offenses from minor charges to murder. Dana’s impact goes beyond his cases—he sets the standard for mentorship within the juvenile defense community, offering guidance, resources and training to panel attorneys. Recently, he was chosen to teach the Zealous Advocacy course at UMass Dartmouth and will coach the new Moot Court Trial Team at the UMass School of Law.
Dana lives in Dartmouth, MA with his wife, Gail Sargent, Administrative Assistant at the New Bedford CPCS Office. They have three children and two grandchildren.
Thurgood Marshall Award
The Thurgood Marshall Award honors those who champion the cause of zealous representation and the right to effective assistance of counsel on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, and the vulnerable and, in so doing, contribute to building a more equitable and healthy community for all. This award is given to an individual or group who pushed for lasting, equitable changes in the legal system and/or the societal structures that affect CPCS clients and client communities. Recipients will embody the CPCS core values of courage, accountability, respect, and excellence.
Adrian Angus’ family & Arnie Lucinda Stewart
The late Adrian Angus was a dedicated and passionate public defender with the Worcester Trial Office of the Committee for Public Counsel Services since 2011. His commitment to justice extended beyond the courtroom, as he also served as a Legal Training Attorney in the Criminal Defense Training Unit of the CPCS Training Department, where he mentored and guided aspiring attorneys.
An honors graduate of McGill University and Boston University School of Law, Adrian’s expertise and dedication to social justice were widely recognized. In 2022, he was honored with the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Access to Justice Defender of the Year Award, a testament to his tireless advocacy for marginalized communities. He was also a member of the inaugural 2016 MBA Leadership Academy Class and received the Worcester County Bar Association’s President’s Award for Service to the Bar in 2021. At the time of his passing, Adrian was President-Elect of the Worcester County Bar Association for the 2025-2026 term. He was widely recognized for his stellar legal mind and ability to relate to people from all walks of life, and across the spectrum of society.
Adrian’s commitment to public service extended beyond the legal field. He was an active member of the Worcester Planning Board and served as a Commissioner on Massachusetts’ Access to Justice Commission of the Supreme Judicial Court, working to ensure equal access to the legal system for all citizens.
Adrian was universally beloved. He was pure kindness. He was intelligent, analytical and creative in his work, and had an unwavering commitment to CPCS clients. Always with a smile, he was respected as a professional, a colleague and a friend.
Adrian had a love for history and was an avid reader. His sharp intellect and deep compassion made him a fierce advocate for his clients in the Worcester area and a beloved colleague and friend. His memory was unparalleled, and his institutional knowledge of CPCS, the Worcester legal community and Massachusetts history second to none. His personality combined the passion of the truest believer with pragmatic wisdom, a unique sense of humor with genuine empathy and intellectual talents surpassed only by his emotional intelligence. Always smiling, with a loud, infectious laugh and beaming smile, gregarious and always with good cheer to spare.
Tonight, we honor Adrian, and we carry him in our hearts forever.
We fight for equal justice and
human dignity by supporting our
clients in achieving their legal and
life goals. We zealously advocate
for the rights of individuals and
promote just public policy to
protect the rights of all.