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MSPD News Releases
September 24, 2007
Missouri Public Defender awarded “DEFENDER OF DISTINCTION”
Randall J. Schlegel, an assistant public defender in the Kansas City Office of the Missouri State Public Defender, has been named as the 2007 recipient of the Missouri Defender of Distinction Award. The award, which recognizes public defenders who exemplify the ideal of public defense, will be presented at the Missouri Bar Annual Conference on September 28.
A 16-year veteran of the Missouri State Public Defender System, Schlegel obtained undergraduate degrees in biology and chemistry from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin and began graduate work in cell biology at Michigan State University. However, he discovered a love of teaching when he served as an instructor for undergraduate courses and changed career paths, obtaining a master’s degree in education instead. Schlegel spent eight years as a high school science teacher in Adrian, Missouri before going back to obtain his law degree from UMKC.
Schlegel joined the Missouri State Public Defender System in 1987. He spent the first year of his legal career representing indigent defendants in Kansas City in direct appeals and post-conviction motions. The following year, he moved into trial work, eventually joining the Missouri State Public Defender Western Capital Unit in Kansas City where he defended exclusively death penalty cases.
In the early 1990’s, Schlegel left public defense for private practice, where he did a mix of civil and criminal work in both state and federal court, but returned in 1995 when he rejoined the Missouri State Public Defender’s trial office in Kansas City. During his career, Schlegel has tried over a hundred cases to Jackson County juries and helped train almost as many new public defenders. He has represented numerous clients before the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court and has been honored for his work on behalf of indigent defendants by both the Legal Aid and Public Defender Society of Jackson County and the Western Missouri Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
For further information, contact: Cathy R. Kelly, Deputy Director for Training and Communication, Missouri State Public Defender System, 314-340-7662 (extension 274); email Cathy.Kelly@mspd.mo.gov.