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MSPD News Releases
September 25, 2007
CARUTHERSVILLE PUBLIC DEFENDER OFFICE GETS NEW HEAD
The Caruthersville office of the Missouri State Public Defender System is operating under the leadership of a new District Public Defender. Brandon Sanchez assumed the reins of the four-lawyer office on September 21, replacing Amy Skrien, who resigned from the Caruthersville District Public Defender position in July to join the Office of the Federal Public Defender in St. Louis.
Public Defenders are the attorneys referred to in the familiar ‘Miranda warnings’ recited aloud to suspects under arrest to inform them of their rights. These include the right to a lawyer and the fact that if they cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for them. In Missouri, that would be a lawyer from the Missouri State Public Defender System, which has 33 district offices scattered around the state. The district office located in Caruthersville provides criminal defense representation for clients in both New Madrid and Pemiscot counties. Last year, the office handled just over 1100 cases.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Sanchez holds Bachelors’ Degrees in both Criminal Justice and Psychology from the University of Texas and a law degree from Southern Illinois University School of Law. He comes to Caruthersville from the Jackson Public Defender Office -- which serves Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, Scott and Mississippi Counties. Sanchez has been an assistant in the office in Jackson since 2003, where he also taught jujitsu classes in his spare time. Married to Allison Sanchez and the father of three, Sanchez says that, “Moving to a new area is very exciting for our whole family. It certainly won’t be easy leaving behind all the wonderful relationships we have formed over the past four years in Cape County; but I feel I can be of great service in this new area. We have already been receiving warm welcomes and could not think of any place else we would rather be.”
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.