Ellen Leonida

Ellen Valentik Leonida (born 1970 in Chişinău, Moldova, formerly Kishinev, USSR) is an American criminal defense attorney best known for defending Scott Dyleski, a young high school student accused of murdering the wife of prominent attorney Daniel Horowitz. She served as a Deputy Public Defender for almost ten years at the Contra Costa County, California Public Defender's Office. She is currently a partner at the San Francisco firm Badami, Hartsough & Leonida.

Education

Leonida attended University of California, Santa Cruz, as an undergraduate majoring in American Studies. In 1993, she received a Bachelor's degree with College Honors and Highest Honors in the major and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa.

She attended law school at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley, California. In law school she was director of the Homeless Outreach Project and a founding member of the Boalt Hall Chapter of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as well as a volunteer at the California Asylum Representation Clinic. Ms. Leonida received her JD in 1996. On December 3, 1996, she was admitted to California State Bar. [ [http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=184194 State Bar of CA :: Ellen V. Leonida] , "The State Bar of California", September 28, 2006.]

Early career

In 1997, Leonida joined the Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office, initially working as a law clerk after she graduated from law school. Prior to joining the office she interned at the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights and the Youth Law Center. Since 1997, she has had experience doing both misdemeanor and felony cases. Before leaving, Leonida handled a felony caseload in the Richmond branch of the Public Defender's Office. [ [http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/depart/pubdef/leonida.htm Ellen Leonia, J.D.] , "Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office", September 28, 2006]

cott Dyleski

Her most famous client was Scott Dyleski. In the fall of 2005, Dyleski was accused of beating the wife of prominent criminal defense attorney Daniel Horowitz to death in their Lafayette, California home. She became his attorney after the Dyleski family fired their attorney, Thomas McKenna due to a conflict of interest. McKenna had defended the driver of a car that killed Dyleski's sister and another passenger in 2002. Dyleski was later convicted of the charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The trial received so much press attention that the Judge issued a gag order, something that has not occurred in Contra Costa County in at least forty years. Leonida commented on how her client was unfairly portrayed in the media saying, "Scott was certainly portrayed negatively in the press because of how he dressed and the music he listened to. There was one photograph of him that was in all the newspapers and was frequently shown on television where he was wearing makeup and had his hair in his face. That photo was taken in his freshman year of high school. By the fall of 2005 he wasn't wearing makeup, he wasn't dying his hair, and he was dressing relatively conservatively. I assume the press used the old picture because it was more sensational but it was incredibly unfair and had the effect of misleading people into thinking that he cleaned himself up for trial when he actually appeared in trial looking pretty much like he did when he was arrested." She also added that "the case will be appealed".

New Firm

On September 27, 2006, Leonida announced that she has resigned from the Contra Costa Public Defender's Office to join the firm of Badami, Hartsough & Leonida in San Francisco, saying "This is a really great job, but I did it for long enough. I wanted to leave while I still love it." [ [http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15624032.htm Leonida leaves public defender's office] , "Contra Costa Times", September 27, 2006] Leonida is joining a firm founded by two other former Contra Costa County public defenders. Leonida is also a licensed real-estate broker in Oakland, CA.

External links

* [http://www.bhllaw.net/ Badami, Hartsough & Leonida]
* [http://www.bhllaw.net/ellenleonida.htm Ellen Leonida's Profile]
* [http://www.incredibleagents.com/real-estate-agents/CA/Oakland/Ellen-Leonida-Broker/Ellen-Leonida/index.html Ellen Leonida Broker Office]
* [http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=184194 Ellen Leonida's Bar Record]

Notes