Co-recipients of the 2014 WDA President’s Award, Matthew Zuchetto of The Scott Law Group and Toby Marshall of Terrell Marshall Law Group, with Jacqueline McMurtrie, Director of the Innocence Project Northwest.
This spring, TMLG attorney Toby Marshall and paralegal Jennifer Boschen received two awards recognizing their instrumental roles in the landmark decision of Wilbur et al. v. City of Mount Vernon. On April 26, 2014, the Washington Defender Association presented the WDA President’s Award to attorney Toby Marshall and paralegal Jennifer Boschen, among others. The WDA is an association of Washington State defense attorneys and public defenders, social workers, investigators and those committed to improving indigent defense.
On June 13, 2014, the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL) gave the 2014 Champion of Justice Award to the other advocates “who were instrumental in producing the historic Wilbur v. Mount Vernon, et al. ruling,” including Toby and Jennifer. In issuing the award, WACDL stated that the federal court’s ruling “stands as a wake-up call to jurisdictions statewide, as well as nationally, to provide adequate funding for their indigent defense systems.”
WACDL’s Champion of Justice Award recognizes those who — through legislative, judicial, journalistic or humanitarian pursuits — defended constitutional rights and endeavored to ensure justice and due process for individuals accused of crime.
Recipients of the 2014 WACDL’s Champion of Justice Award include Letty Alvarez, Robert C. Boruchowitz, Jennifer J. Boschen, Sarah Dunne, Nancy Talner, J. Camille Fisher, Joel Y Higa, Chris Jackson, Carol Kness, Chris Knowlden, Toby J. Marshall, Breena M. Roos, David S. Steele, John A. Strait, James F. Williams, and Matthew J. Zuchetto.
Co-recipients of the 2014 President’s Award include Matthew Zuchetto of The Scott Law Group; James F. Williams, Breena Roos, J. Camille Fisher, David Steele, Joel Higa, Carol Kness and Chris Knowlden of Perkins Coie; Sarah Dunne and Nancy Talner of the ACLU of Washington; and Letty Alvarez-Gubitosi, director of the Skagit County Department of Assigned Counsel. Ms. Alvarez-Gubitosi was the first person to raise concerns about the plight of indigent defendants in Mount Vernon and Burlington. The other co-recipients were all part of the team that litigated and tried the case, successfully obtaining an injunction against the cities.
http://www.defensenet.org/news/2014-wda-award-winners-announced
Photo credit to Washington Defender Association