Julie H. Kilborn was appointed Interim State Public Defender by the Louisiana Public Defender Board on February 20, 2013. Prior to that, Ms. Kilborn served as the Deputy Public Defender - Director of Training since April 2009. Before joining the LPDB, Ms. Kilborn practiced in Louisiana where she defended indigent men and women who were charged with serious felony and capital offenses. In late 2005 and early 2006, Ms. Kilborn was a member of the small team of volunteer attorneys who litigated petitions for habeas corpus on behalf of 2,000 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inmate evacuees who were held in jail in violation of their constitutional rights. In 2008, she researched and co-wrote an amicus curiae brief to the United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana arguing the unconstitutionality of the death penalty for a non-homicide rape (cited in majority opinion at 554 U.S. at 550 (2008)).

In addition to designing and implementing a comprehensive public defender training program in Louisiana, Ms. Kilborn has served on the faculty of the National Defender Training Project’s Public Defender Trial Advocacy Program, the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy Litigation Persuasion Institute, and the Southern Public Defender Training Center’s Summer Institute. She currently serves on the Board of Governors and the Criminal Justice Committee of the Louisiana State Bar Association. She also serves as co-chair of the CLE Committee of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and was previously co-chair of the Amicus and Legislative Committees. Ms. Kilborn graduated magna cum laude from Louisiana College with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. She received her J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU where she was a member of the Louisiana Law Review and was elected into the Order of the Coif. She is admitted in Louisiana state courts and the various United States District Courts throughout Louisiana.

Richard Pittman was hired by the Louisiana Public Defender Board on May 28, 2013, to be the Deputy Public Defender – Director of Juvenile Defender Services. He began indigent defense in Juvenile Court and in criminal courts in 2006, and continued in the practice until his appointment as Deputy Public Defender. In his years in indigent defense, he represented juveniles accused of delinquency, parents and children in abuse and neglect cases, adults accused of misdemeanors and felonies up to an including capital murder. He had guardian ad litem certification which he maintained from 2006 until 2013. beginning his indigent defense practice, Mr. Pittman worked in the field of personal injury litigation.

Mr. Pittman graduated from East Ascension High School in Gonzales, Louisiana, in 1992. Thereafter he attended Louisiana State University and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1996. He then obtained a Masters of Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 1999. By then he was working as a consultant for C.F. Picou Associates, a Baton Rouge firm specializing in process control with business worldwide. In 2001, Mr. Pittman decided to go to law school and was admitted to the University of Alabama School of Law in 2002, graduating with honors in 2005. While at the University of Alabama School of Law, he was awarded the Order of Samaritan for public service and volunteerism.

Michele Burbank comes to the Louisiana Public Defender Board with a wealth of experience from the legal and medical communities statewide. She joined the staff in January 2013.

Ms. Burbank was chosen by the Lafayette Parish Bar Association to establish the first centralized LPBA administrative office and Law Library in 1987. During this time, she also facilitated the Association’s continuing education opportunities and developed and administered the pro bono program. Thereafter, Ms. Burbank was employed for 17 years at Baton Rouge General Medical Center where she coordinated the continuing medical education, graduate medical education, risk management and service excellence programs. During this time she was involved in designing and establishing several new initiatives for the hospital.

Ms. Burbank holds an Associate Certificate in Office Administration from University of Louisiana-Lafayette, FINRA Series 6 Investment Products and Variable Contracts certification, Louisiana Life, Health and Accident License, and is a commissioned Louisiana State Notary.

Natashia M. Carter joined LPDB in July 2009. Prior to joining LPDB, Ms. Carter was an Accountant with the Department of Economic Development in the Fiscal Division of the Office of the Secretary for over 5 years. In her position with Economic Development Ms. Carter was responsible for all payables, auditing and reimbursing employee travel along with many other duties. Ms. Carter earned her Bachelor of Science in Business/Accounting and is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Accountancy.

Life-long Baton Rouge resident Latrice R. Clark initially joined the LPDB staff in August 2008 as a temporary employee. She has six years of administrative experience and is state certified in fleet and property management. Ms. Clark oversees the maintenance of the office vehicles, property inventory and office travel procedures. In addition to those duties, Ms. Clark serves as Administrative Assistant to the Juvenile Director, office receptionist and mail manager. She joined the staff permanently in November 2008.

John Di Giulio has been a full time criminal defense lawyer for most of his forty years since graduating from Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 1977. During and after working as an associate with Camille Gravel, he has handled hundreds of felony cases in state and federal courts in Louisiana and many other states, including a number of very high profile cases.

Mr. Di Giulio has taken numerous appointed and pro bono criminal cases and has been a proponent of advancing professional standards and compensation for public defenders, including service on the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board. He has been an ex officio member of the Louisiana Public Defender Association. He was a charter member of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, has served on the Board of Directors for more than twenty years, and has been elected to every executive position including President, as well as chairman of the CLE and Legislative committees. He is the recipient of several President's Awards from LACDL as well as the Sam Dalton Capital Defense award.

Jean M. Faria became the Capital Case Coordinator in March 2013. Previously, she had served as the State Public Defender since June 1, 2008. For 11 years prior to joining LPDB, Ms. Faria had served as the Assistant Federal Defender for the Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana, in Baton Rouge, LA. From 1995-1997 she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Indigent Defender Board in New Orleans, LA. Before 1995, Ms. Faria worked as a public defender in the 19th JDC Public Defender Office in Baton Rouge.

Ms. Faria has been active in the public defense reform movement, both locally and nationally, for many years. She is a charter member of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer and long-standing member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. For more than 10 years she served on the Board of Directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, which she chaired for two years. Concurrently, she spent significant time as the Chair of the Defender Policy Group within that organization. Currently, she is a member of the Indigent Defense Advisory Group of the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID) of the ABA. Ms. Faria regularly lectures at criminal defense trainings and participates in policy research of state public defender systems around the country. In December 2009, she was awarded the Justice Albert Tate Jr. Award.

Ms. Faria received a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Massachusetts and received her J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

Julie Gregory joined LPDB in August 2010. Prior to joining LPDB, Ms. Gregory worked at a firm as a paralegal for five years, whose primary focus was insurance defense. In 2001, Ms. Gregory earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology from Louisiana State University and received her paralegal certification from LSU's continuing education program in 2003.

Anne Gwin graduated from Louisiana State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts. She was employed at that time with the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and for ten years worked as a project manager and an executive assistant. In 1992, she took an office manager/legal secretary position with prominent Baton Rouge criminal defense attorney John Di Giulio. In 1999, Ms. Gwin received her paralegal certification from LSU's continuing education program. In November 2008, after 17 years of private sector criminal defense work in city, district and federal courts, she joined the staff of the Louisiana Public Defender Board as the paralegal for the Capital & Compliance Divisions. In November 2009, Ms. Gwin moved to the position of Executive Assistant to the State Public Defender.

Heather H. Hall joined the LPDB staff as Special Projects Advisor in November 2008. For the previous 4 years, Ms. Hall worked as the Director of the Louisiana Justice Coalition, a non-profit, 16-member agency coalition committed to public defense reform in Louisiana. In that capacity, Ms. Hall built consensus of support around the American Bar Association Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System, solicited media attention and support for reform, undertook a diverse public education campaign in all 64 parishes, and initiated community-oriented defense projects in select districts.

Ms. Hall received her Bachelor's Degrees in Religion and History from the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) in 2002.

Roger W. Harris joined the staff of the Louisiana Public Defender Board in August 2009, after spending ten years in the private practice of law. Mr. Harris brings extensive state government experience to the staff, as he previously served as General Counsel, and later as Assistant Legislative Auditor and General Counsel, to Louisiana's Office of Legislative Auditor. Mr. Harris also served as legal counsel to a joint legislative committee, chaired a state board, and was a member of Louisiana State University's adjunct faculty where he taught business law to graduate students.

Mr. Harris received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Louisiana State University in 1984 and a Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in 1989. Mr. Harris was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in 1989 and the Wyoming Bar in 1996.

Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe graduated from Stanford University School of Law in May of 2006 with pro bono honors. Immediately after graduation, Irene completed a capital post-conviction fellowship with the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama in Montgomery, Alabama. After the fellowship, Irene completed a federal clerkship for the Honorable Napoleon A. Jones, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, California. Irene began working in New Orleans as an attorney in the trial division of the Orleans Public Defenders in the fall of 2008 but soon became the Assistant Special Litigation Counsel. As the Assistant Special Litigation Counsel, Irene helped build a division tasked with systemic litigation, legislative advocacy, and the creation and maintenance of resources for attorneys, investigators, and other employees of the public defender office to aid in the holistic representation of clients.

Irene was born in Sapele, Nigeria, and moved to the United States when she was three years old. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin with departmental and university-wide honors in 2003, and won the William Jennings Bryan Award for Undergraduate Honors Theses for her thesis entitled, “Was There a Place for Anger? An Analysis of African American Militancy in American Politics Since the Gary Convention.”

Chase May graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 2007. After graduating, he began his career in Information Technology in 2008 as a Support Technician with Innovative Computers, an IT consulting company serving local businesses in Gonzales and Baton Rouge. Mr. May rejoined the LPDB staff in August 2012 after previously serving for 2 ½ years.

Beth Perry joined LPDB as Paralegal for the Compliance and Legal Divisions in October 2012. Prior to joining LPDB, Ms. Perry was a Case Administrator for the Clerk of Court for the Middle District of Louisiana for over 16 years. In her position with the Clerk, Ms. Perry was primarily responsible for automated case management for District and Magistrate Judges. In addition, Ms. Perry also performed quality control and management support and provided extensive training for attorneys and staff related to electronic case filing. Ms. Perry received her paralegal certification from LSU's continuing education program in 2001.

Cristine Roussel joined the LPDB staff as CMS Report Analyst in February 2012. Prior joining LPDB, Ms. Roussel worked in private sector as a business analyst.

Ms. Roussel earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from LSU, in 2003. From 2003 to 2008 she was a Doctoral student in Cognitive/Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Statistics. She earned her Master’s in Cognitive Psychology in 2005.

Dr. Erik Stilling took office as the Information and Technology Management Officer on September 24, 2008. Dr. Stilling began his career in the engineering department of WLAE-TV in New Orleans. After earning a doctorate, he taught Mass Communication Technology and Journalism at Nicholls State and served as the first Director of the Office of Distance Education, implementing compressed video and web-based technologies and applications for adult learners. From 2000-2005, Dr. Stilling worked in California at Holy Names University and as Dean at Expressions College for the Digital Arts, both in the Silicon Valley.

Dr. Stilling returned to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to develop a data collection and analysis system as part of the MacArthur Models for Change program in the Jefferson Parish Department of Juvenile Justice. This system was used to determine evidence-based alternatives to formal processing of juveniles facing detention and adjudication. Dr. Stilling earned his Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1987 and was awarded his Doctorate in Mass Communication from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1992.

You can find the job posting for this position in the 'Employment' section of the website.

Angel Williams joined the Louisiana Public Defender Board on October 31, 2011. Ms. Williams has an extensive background in federal, state, and nonprofit accounting, financial management, compliance, budgeting, forecasting, financials analysis, and process improvement. She began her career in 2001with the USDA Forest Service as a Federal Accountant/Budget Analyst where she gained a broad knowledge of federal accounting, appropriations laws, and budgetary execution laws.

Ms. Williams worked in the public services sector as a Management Analyst for BearingPoint, Inc. from 2005-2007 acquiring experience in project financial management, as well as software implementation for federal and telecommunication clients. From 2007-2010, she served as the Budget and Operations Manager for the American Cancer Society’s National Home Office (ACS-NHO) headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was responsible for coordinating and managing the annual budget, forecast, and operational planning process. During her tenure with ACS-NHO, Ms. Williams served as a key leader in the implementation of a web-based budgeting tool to improve tracking of budget vs. actual costs. She was also responsible for the development of financial and programmatic data reports used to support various business decisions. Most recently, Ms. Williams served as a Budget Analyst 2 for the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) managing federally funded grants, providing budgetary guidance, and ensuring compliance with federal regulations for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers afterschool program.

Ms. Williams earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2002 and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Accounting and Finance.

Sean Williams joined the LPDB staff as Technical Assistant in June 2009. Mr. Williams graduated from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.

Prior to joining LPDB, Mr. Williams worked in IT procurement and inter-organizational workflow management in the financial industry.