HONOREES

We are proud to honor the following extraodianry people on November 29th:

Susan Still is a victims’ rights advocate and respected authority on domestic violence and criminal justice response. Ms. Still survived 23 years of verbal, emotional and brutal physical abuse by her husband Ulner Lee Still. In 2003, Ms. Still successfully fought for her husband’s arrest and prosecution. The case was resolved in a landmark decision as presiding judge, Justice John F. O'Donnell, conferred a prison sentence of 36 years, the longest sentence in New York State history for a domestic violence case in which the victim was not killed. Ms. Still now conducts trainings for domestic violence advocates and police officers. She is a much sought after public speaker on violence against women and has given presentations for the National College of District Attorneys, the New York State Victim Assistance Academy and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and 20/20 with Diane Sawyer.

The Bureau Chiefs of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Units from the five boroughs:

Manhattan: Lisa M. Friel is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Her entire legal career has been at the New York County District Attorney’s Office where she started in 1983. Initially assigned to a trial bureau to handle misdemeanor cases, she began prosecuting felonies in 1985. In 1986, she joined the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit. In 1991, she became its Deputy Chief and, in 2002, the Chief of the Unit. In addition to prosecuting thousands of sexual assaults in her career, Ms. Friel has also prosecuted numerous homicide cases, having been promoted to the Homicide Chart in 1988. She is a frequent lecturer at law enforcement training sessions throughout the country. In addition, she trains rape crisis volunteer advocates, sexual assault victims’ mental health providers and medical personnel at hospitals and medical schools throughout Manhattan. She is one of the two co-chairpersons of the New York State District Attorney’s Association’s Sexual Assault Legislative Subcommittee and as such was one of the principle drafters of the Sexual Assault Reform Act of 2001. She was also Editor-in Chief of a statewide Sexual Assault Prosecution Manual published by the New York Prosecutors’ Training Institute in 2002, as well as the author of the Medical Evidence Chapter therein. She is a member of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault and on the Advisory Board of its Forensic Healthcare Project and its Criminal Justice Collaboration Committee. She is also a member of a number of Mayor’s taskforces in New York City, including its Sexual Assault Taskforce, its Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce, its Human Trafficking Taskforce and its Sexual Predator Electronic Crimes Committee. And, finally, but certainly not least, she is the mother of three school-age children.

Bronx: Joseph Muroff has been an Assistant District Attorney at the Bronx District Attorney's Office for almost 22 years. He has held a supervisory position in the Office for over 15 of those years. He is presently the Chief of The Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau. His involvement in the field began in early 2001 when he was the Deputy Chief of the Domestic Violence/Sex Crimes Bureau. During his supervisory tenure he has been involved in countless number of trainings of Assistant District Attorneys and members of other agencies throughout New York as well as other states. He was directly involved in the implementation of the first Integrated Domestic Violence Court Part in New York City. He was also instrumental in establishing the Bronx Sexual Assault Task Force created to bring together multidisciplinary agencies in the Bronx to tackle issues involving adolescent and adult sexual assault victims. As the Chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau he is an active member of various committees and organizations including the New York State District Attorney's Association Subcommittee on Sex Crimes and Family Violence; the New York City Office of Criminal Justice Coordinator's Sexual Assault Task Force; The Bronx Multidisciplinary Team on Child Physical and Sexual Abuse; and the Bronx Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Task Force.

Queens: Marjory Fisher is the Bureau Chief of the Queens District Attorney's Office's Special Victims Bureau, which handles all felony sexual assault, child abuse and elder abuse cases. She was appointed to this position in January, 1992. Prior to her appointment, she was an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn for eight and a half years. During her tenure there, she served as an Assistant District Attorney trying rape and child abuse cases in their Sex Crimes Bureau, as a supervising trial attorney in their Homicide Bureau and as a Deputy Bureau Chief in their Supreme Court Bureau. In Queens, she published The Prosecutor's Manual for Sex Crimes, a how-to guide for prosecuting rape cases, and was a contributing author to the NYPTI Sex Crimes Prosecution Manual. She has served on the Statewide Children's Justice Task Force, the Mayor's Committee on Child Abuse, the Mayor’s Sex Crimes Task Force, and the planning committee for the New York City Multi-disciplinary Child Fatality Review Board. She has lectured on the subject of sexual assault and domestic violence to the New York City Police Department Sex Crimes Detectives, the New York State Police, and the Bar Association of the City of New York, the New York State District Attorney's Association, the New York Prosecutor’s Training Institute, the Colorado District Attorney's Association, and the Louisiana District Attorney's Association. She is an Adjunct Professor of Law at St. John’s University Law School, where she teaches “Sexual Assault and Family Violence.” Ms. Fisher attended law school at George Washington University's National Law Center, where she graduated from in 1983. She has a special interest in cases involving Shaken Baby Syndrome, and she has tried several cases involving this crime. In addition, she has lectured at The National Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome and the North American Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome and she recently organized the First New York City Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Brooklyn: Rhonnie Jaus is an Executive Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Sex Crimes/Special Victims Bureau in the Kings County District Attorney's Office. She is responsible for handling the investigation and prosecution of sexual offense cases throughout Brooklyn. She tries major high profile cases, most notably in recent years, the trials of Father Francis Nelson, who was accused of sexually molesting a 12 year old girl, and serial rapists, Carl Brown and James Webb. She is the co-chair of the Brooklyn Sexual Assault Task Force, a member of the Criminal Justice Coordinator's Task Force on Sexual Assault and the District Attorneys' Association Subcommittee on Sexual Assault. She created and wrote, "Vigilance Can Save a Child," an educational documentary for detecting child abuse and developed the Brooklyn John School and the S.T.A.R. (Saving Teens at Risk) Project. She has been an Adjunct Professor of Law since 1994 at New York Law School and St. John's University Law School, where she teaches Child Victims and the Law and Sexual Assault and Family Violence. Ms. Jaus is a graduate of the National Law Center of George Washington University.

Staten Island: Yolanda L. Rudich is an Assistant District Attorney in the Richmond County District Attorney's Office, heading its Sex Crimes/Special Victims Bureau since 1993. She graduated summa cum laude from the College of Staten Island in 1979 and was awarded the Arleigh B. Williamson Liberal Arts Award for Politics, Economics and Philosophy. In 1982, she earned her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law (Newark), where she served as primary articles editor of the Women's Rights Law Reporter and vice president of the Law and Humanities Society. Ms. Rudich is a past president of the Staten Island Women's Bar Association and a former vice president of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Richmond County Bar Association for six years and chaired its Continuing Legal Education and Public Education Committees. She also served on the Judiciary Committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Richmond County Bar Association. Ms. Rudich's other professional activities include membership in the New York State Bar Association and the New York State District Attorney's Association. She is a contributing author to the New York Criminal Practice Handbook, the NYS District Attorneys Association Handbook on Domestic Violence Prosecutions, and the New York Prosecutors Training Institutes Sexual Assault Prosecutions Manual. She has conducted trainings for Safe Horizon Rape Victim Advocates, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, the New York Prosecutor’s Training Institute, the New York City Department of the Aging and the New York City Police Department. She has testified at public hearings before City and State Commissions concerning sex crimes and domestic violence. Ms. Rudich serves on the Mayor's Sexual Assault Task Force, the NYC Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, the New York City Family Court Advisory Council, the Staten Island Sexual Assault Task Force, the NYS District Attorneys Association's Sexual Assault & Family Violence Subcommittee and the Elder Abuse Subcommittee. She is a founding member of the Staten Island Child Advocacy Center and the Staten Island Lawyers Committee against Domestic Violence. She was a recipient of St. Vincent’s Medical Center’s Guardian Angel award and has been honored by the New York City Police Department, the Community Agency for Senior Citizens and the New York City Bar, which in 2006 awarded her the prestigious Dewey Medal as an outstanding prosecutor in NYC.

The Bureau Chiefs of Manhattan’s Child Abuse & Family Violence Prosecution Units:

Ann Donnelly has worked at the New York County District Attorney’s Office for twenty-three years. She is currently the chief of the Family Violence Child Abuse Bureau where she oversees the investigation of cases involving New York’s most vulnerable victims. Prior to becoming bureau chief, she was a Senior Trial Counsel in the Major Offense Career Criminal Program where she prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other serious felonies. Her notable trials include People v. Kozlowski and Swartz, in which the two top executives of Tyco were convicted of looting the company, and People v. Kimes, in which mother and son Sante and Kennth Kimes were convicted of murdering an elderly woman and successfully disposing of her body.

Audrey S. Moore has devoted her 18 year legal career to public service in the New York County District Attorney's Office. She has prosecuted and investigated violent crimes, child sexual assault cases, and felony domestic violence cases. In 2002, she was appointed Deputy Bureau Chief of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Bureau, where her responsibilities include training and supervision of assistant district attorneys in the handling of domestic violence cases, and felony child abuse cases. In addition to her supervisory duties, Ms. Moore is a frequent lecturer on domestic violence issues. In 2001, Ms. Moore received the Professional Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club, Inc. and the Law Enforcement Recognition Award from the New York State Division of Parole. In September 2006, Audrey Moore was presented with the New York County Lawyers' Association Public Service Award.

Manhattan DNA Cold Case Unit:

Martha Bashford is a Senior Trial Counsel at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, and has worked there for 28 years. She is the co-chief of the DNA Cold Case Project, which was established by Robert M. Morgenthau in 2000, investigating and prosecuting unsolved sexual assault cases. During the past seven years she has worked with the New York City Police Department on their “Backlog Project,” where 17,000 previously unexamined sexual assault kits were outsourced for DNA analysis, indicting assailants identified through CODIS and obtaining John Doe DNA profile indictments to stop the statute of limitations where no suspect has yet been identified. She has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Canada on her experiences in establishing a Cold Case Unit and reviving cases that had been dormant for up to 32 years. She graduated summa cum laude from Barnard College in 1976, received her J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 1979, and is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. In 2007, she was named one of the “Fifty Most Powerful Woman in New York” for her work in ensuring that those who committed previously unsolved sexual assaults are identified and punished.

Melissa Mourges has been a career prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office since 1985. As Senior Trial Counsel, she has handled numerous sex crimes and homicide cases. She has been co-chief of the Cold Case DNA Unit since DA Robert Morgenthau established it in 2000. She has presented lectures at the American Academy of Forensic Science, the National Advocacy Center, the American Academy of Medicine, the New York Prosecutors Research Institute and the Toronto International Sex Crimes Conference.