AI and Prosecution

Frank Coyle is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University (SMU). His research focuses on leveraging knowledge gleaned from a company’s industry-specific documents to augment to the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and BERT. This knowledge-centric approach to using Large Language Models is applicable to a wide range of industries including engineering, medicine, business, law and art provenance. Frank graduated with a degree in Psychology from Fordham College, an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and a PhD from Southern Methodist University. Before coming to SMU, he worked as a contractor for the military in Washington DC and has served as expert witness in software-related intellectual property cases. He publishes articles on AI and Large Language Models and curates a collection of AI-related articles on the medium.com website (https://medium.com/@coyle_41098 ) . In his spare time, Frank plays guitar at acoustic jams in Dallas, and when traveling, seeks out open-mics opportunities.

Briana Evans is one of the co-founders of Prosecution Leaders of Now (PLN). Briana has focused her career on building communities in which every member can thrive. As part of PLN, she provides technical assistance, coaching, and training to leaders in district attorneys offices across the country. Previously, Briana has worked as an equity design strategist with Reflex Design Collective, a consulting firm that uses collaboration to co-design solutions that advance social equity. She has also served as a Senior Community Health Planner in San Mateo County Health’s Office of Diversity and Equity where her team co-designed culturally responsive behavioral health services with clients and families that reflected the diversity of the jurisdiction. In addition to her work with PLN, Briana serves as the Equity Officer of a medium-sized city, allowing her to stay close to the reality of change and change management in local government. She is also a facilitator for Stanford Business School’s Women in Management and Interpersonal Dynamics programs, which support individuals to build interpersonal connections and make mindful choices about their impact as leaders. Briana completed Bachelor’s and Master’s studies in Anthropology at Stanford University. 

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Brandon L. Garrett joined the Duke Law faculty in 2018 as the inaugural L. Neil Williams, Jr. Professor of Law. A leading scholar of criminal justice outcomes, evidence, and constitutional rights, Garrett previously was the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs and Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. His work has been widely cited by courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, lower federal courts, state supreme courts, and courts in other countries, such as the Supreme Courts of Canada and Israel. Garrett also frequently speaks about criminal justice matters before legislative and policymaking bodies, groups of practicing lawyers, law enforcement, and to local and national media. He is involved with a number of law reform initiatives, including the American Law Institute’s project on policing, for which he serves as Associate Reporter. Garrett's paper, co-authored with Duke University computer science professor Dr. Cynthia Rudin, is titled "The Right to a Glass Box: Rethinking the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Criminal Justice." It critiques permissive use of "black box" AI algorithms in the criminal justice system and suggests justice practitioners should only use versions that are fully interpretable by people (if they are to use them at all). 

Zackary Gibbons, serving as the Southwest Regional Manager for Specialized Law at LexisNexis, brings over a decade of expertise in online legal research and analytics. Throughout his career, Zack has collaborated with law schools and firms nationwide, harnessing his deep understanding of the legal landscape to deliver tailored solutions. As a member of Lexis’s internal Product Advisory Board, he provides customer and market insight guiding product strategy, content prioritization, and platform development. Zack holds a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt University Law School and is an avid advocate for the responsible and ethical use of AI technology in the legal profession.

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Jamila Hodge became Equal Justice USA’s second Executive Director in 2021 bringing more than 15 years of criminal justice experience as a prosecutor, policy advisor, and technical assistance provider. Her goal is to establish EJUSA as a leader in building solutions to violence outside of the criminal legal system by demonstrating the impact of EJUSA’s work and expanding its reach throughout the country. She comes to EJUSA after launching the Reshaping Prosecution Program at the Vera Institute of Justice, where she and her team worked with progressive prosecutors, community-based organizations, and people impacted by the system to develop policy and practice reforms to end mass incarceration and reduce racial disparities within the system. One of the signature initiatives she launched was Motion for Justice, which centers racial equity in transforming the role of the prosecutor and aims to implement concrete racial equity strategies in partnership with communitybased organizations. Before Vera, Jami logged many achievements across a 12-year career in the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. She spent four of those years as a community prosecutor focused on intervention and prevention of harm. She also served in the Office of Legal Policy, where she helped shape policies for people returning from incarceration and those seeking access to counsel in criminal proceedings. Later, she worked in the office of then-Vice President Joe Biden as an advisor on criminal justice and drug policies. Jami has demonstrated her expertise on CBS, MSNBC, ABC Nightline, and many other media outlets. She earned her law degree from Duke University School of Law and her bachelor of arts in psychology and sociology at the University of Michigan. She lives in the greater Washington, D.C. area with her husband and two daughters.

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Ashkhen Kazaryan manages and develops policy projects on free speech, content moderation, surveillance reform and the intersection of constitutional rights and technology. She is Senior Fellow, Free Speech & Peace at Stand Together. She leads the development and execution of ST’s strategy to both defend free speech online and to promote a culture of pluralism via innovations in how we gather online. Prior to that she was Content Policy Manager on the Content Regulation team at Meta, covering North and Latin America, and was also its policy lead on Section 230.

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Terah joined CROP in January 2022. She is the former Associate Director of Impact Justice’s groundbreaking reentry program - The Homecoming Project - a $3.5M housing innovation that matches eligible returning citizens with rooms for rent with compatible hosts. Over three years, she developed and led the program which has received national and state awards and provided nearly 70 formerly incarcerated individuals with sustainable housing in the Bay Area. While incarcerated, Terah became a certified peer health educator, a drug and alcohol counselor and earned two associate degrees. She developed the Offender Responsibility program, which is still offered at Central California Women’s Facility. Terah also developed the program curriculum to launch a nonprofit, CORE (Criminal Offender Reform Establishment), which provides rehabilitative correspondent courses nationwide to people incarcerated in prison. The organization has served 2500 students since 2012. From 2012-2013, she was the elected chairperson of the Beyond Incarceration Panel and led an organization of 20 members to gain certifications as Congressionally Recognized Youth Diversion Specialists. After returning home in 2017, Terah has dedicated her life to her community. She is the spokeswoman for the Drop the Life Without the Possibility of Parole campaign and has been featured in A New Way of Life testimonial series. Her work has been profiled in major media outlets such as NPR, CNN Great Big Story, The New York Times, The Atlantic and Mother Jones. Terah is a Young Professional of Color Fellow with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform and was a 2019 Next Generations Fellow with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice.

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Carlos J. Martinez, the Public Defender for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, manages the largest Public Defender’s Office in Florida, with a $42 million budget and 400 employees handling approximately 65,000 cases each year. He has 30 years of management experience both in the Public Defender’s office, as well as in private enterprise prior to law school. Mr. Martinez represented thousands of clients charged with felonies and misdemeanors before working as an administrator. Mr. Martinez represented clients in Miami's drug court, and later served on the committee of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals that wrote Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components. He instituted the “Redemption Project” in 1998 to help former clients/returning citizens with sealing, expungement and rights restoration. He was instrumental in designing and implementing the Streamlined Court Review process for Amendment 4 in Miami-Dade. Mr. Martinez is the President of the Florida Public Defender Association, is the chair of the Miami-Dade Public Safety Coordinating Council, and serves on the NAMI Miami- Dade Outreach Committee. He recently served on the Supreme Court of Florida’s Judicial Circuit Assessment Committee, The Florida Bar Board of Governors as the government lawyer liaison and the Miami-Dade County Driver’s License Suspension Task Force. He was Vice-President of the National Association for Public Defense and served on the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution’s Executive Session on Rethinking the Role of the Prosecutor in the Community. He also served on Florida Blueprint Commission on Juvenile Justice, The Florida Bar’s Commission on the Legal Needs of Children, on two Supreme Court of Florida Steering Committees, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Zero Tolerance Task Force, and on Miami Dade County’s Blue-Ribbon Panel on Ex-Offender Re-Entry. He co-authored, Prosecution and Public Defense: The Prosecutor’s Role in Securing A Meaningful Right to an Attorney and The Best Defense Is No Offense: Preventing Crime Through Effective Public Defense.

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Devshi Mehrotra is the CEO and co-founder of JusticeText, an AI startup that is building police accountability software to help public defenders analyze voluminous body-worn camera footage. She has raised $3+ million for the venture from investors like John Legend, Reid Hoffman, and Bloomberg Beta. Devshi previously led applied machine learning projects at Google Brain, Microsoft Research, Peking University, and Stanford Law. Her work at the intersection of tech and social good has led her to be recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneur, Dream.org Justice Innovation Prize winner, ABA Legal Rebel, SXSW Pitch winner, and MIT Solver.

Pamela Metzger is the Executive Director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at SMU Dedman School of Law. She is a nationally recognized expert on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, public defense, and criminal legal ethics, and her research focuses on combining theory and practice to improve our criminal legal system. Professor Metzger came to SMU in 2017 from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans, where she taught for 16 years. From 2001 to 2008 she directed Tulane’s Criminal Litigation Clinic, becoming a leading voice in reforming the criminal justice system in Louisiana. When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, she fought tirelessly to help 8,000 indigent defendants left incarcerated without legal representation. Professor Metzger oversees the Deason Center’s independent research on the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, criminal legal systems in small, tribal, and rural (STAR) communities, prosecutorial discretion, and early-stage criminal procedure. She has helped secure millions of dollars in funding for the Deason Center to conduct innovative research and amplify compelling stories that promote criminal legal reform. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and her J.D. from New York University School of Law, Professor Metzger served as an Assistant Federal Defender in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and worked in private criminal practice in New York City.

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Lucas A. Meyer is a Computer Scientist and Financial Economist, working as a Principal Research Scientist at the Microsoft AI for Good Lab. Lucas has worked at Microsoft and Amazon detecting and preventing fraud and financial misconduct. At the AI for Good Lab, Lucas specializes in Natural Language Processing, especially Large Language Models, and its uses in Economics and Cultural Heritage.

Jumana Musa is a human rights attorney and racial justice activist. She is the founding Director of the Fourth Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As director, Ms. Musa oversees NACDL's initiative to build a new, more durable Fourth Amendment legal doctrine for the digital age, focusing on the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on the criminal legal system. The Fourth Amendment Center educates the defense bar on Constitutional challenges to tech tools, provides a dynamic toolkit of resources to help lawyers identify opportunities to challenge government surveillance, and provides direct tactical litigation support to assist in challenging technology and algorithmic decision making tools in criminal cases. Ms. Musa previously served as NACDL's Sr. Privacy and National Security Counsel. Prior to joining NACDL, Ms. Musa served as a policy consultant for the Southern Border Communities Coalition, a coalition of over 60 groups across the southwest that address militarization and brutality by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in border communities. Previously, she served as Deputy Director for the Rights Working Group, a national coalition of civil rights, civil liberties, human rights, and immigrant rights advocates where she coordinated the “Face the Truth” campaign against racial profiling. She was also the Advocacy Director for Domestic Human Rights and International Justice at Amnesty International USA, where she addressed the domestic and international impact of U.S. counterterrorism efforts on human rights. She was one of the first human rights attorneys allowed to travel to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and served as Amnesty International's legal observer at military commission proceedings on the base. Ms. Musa holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

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Michael Nelson, Executive Director of Kid C.A.T., bridges harm and healing for incarcerated youth serving life sentences, guiding them to discover their identity and navigate the world with clarity. With over 20 years of incarceration, he embraced the values and practices of Restorative Justice, co-founding Kid C.A.T. and creating A.C.T. while at San Quentin State Prison. Since his 2018 release, he facilitates Restorative Justice discussions with diverse groups, rooted in his commitment to healing and accountability. Embracing accountability, vulnerability, and radical acceptance, he shares the transformative power of communal story sharing and circle keeping. Featured in documentaries like "The Mask You Live In" and "The Prison Within," he spreads circle experiences beyond prison walls. Outside his work, he enjoys beach time with his dog, Morgan.

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Rory Pulvino is the director of analytics at Justice Innovation Lab, where he leads a team of data engineers, analysts, and outside researchers in designing data-driven solutions for a more equitable, effective, and fair justice system. Rory is a former data scientist with the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and the San Francisco District Attorney, where he worked on improving data systems in prosecutor offices and incorporating data into office decision-making. Rory holds a BS from the University of Oklahoma and a dual JD/MPP from the University of Michigan.

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Rocky grew up in Grapevine, TX and was a member of the Grapevine Debate Team and Mock Trial Team. Rocky did his undergrad at Texas Tech University majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Political Science. During this time, he was the Music Director and then Station Manager at 88.1 KTXT-FM the college radio station. He attended Western State University in California and graded on to Law Review and was a member of the Latino Student Bar Association. Rocky also obtained a degree in Sound Engineering from the Los Angeles Recording School and spent two years as an intern and sound engineer in Los Angeles. Rocky moved back to Texas and started his law practice in Lubbock as a panel attorney in the Lubbock Private Defenders Office. In 2019 he attended Gideon’s Promise in Atlanta, GA as one of the inaugural members of the Future Indigent Defense Leaders program (FIDL 1.0). In May of 2022, joined the team at the Bexar County Managed Assigned Counsel Office in San Antonio, as the Law & Technology Resource Attorney and was eventually made the Director of Technology and Professional Development. Rocky has now joined the Concho Valley Public Defender’s Office as a Felony Assistant Public Defender. He will split his time between case-work and technological change for the office. Rocky is a regular presenter at CLE conferences speaking about the intersection of Technology and Indigent Criminal Defense. His presentation subjects have included Automation for Indigent Criminal Defense Attorneys, Case Management Systems, and the use of AI for Criminal Defense. At home, Rocky is a proud father of two beautiful boys who keep him busy in his time away from work. 

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Mohammed Al Rawi serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office (LACPD). Under his leadership, the LACPD has experienced a significant digital transformation, streamlined its operations and improved legal service delivery to Los Angeles County residents. Since his arrival at the LACPD in 2019, Al Rawi has led the development and implementation of the Client Case Management System (CCMS), marking the most extensive digital overhaul in the 110- year history of the nation's largest Public Defender office. CCMS, by integrating 23 legacy systems and digitizing over 160 million criminal case records, has catapulted the LACPD into a new era, enhancing services for more than 100,000 residents each year. Al Rawi has been at the forefront of adopting emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to advance the LACPD's operations. He has established a customized pipeline for processing digital evidence, including Body Worn Videos and scanned PDFs, which classifies relevant content, extracts case-specific information, and presents the findings via an intuitive interface. This innovative use of AI in criminal defense has streamlined the handling of vast amounts of digital evidence, leveraging AI's capabilities to support decarceration and explore alternative avenues for the indigent accused. His strategic initiatives have focused on improving criminal representation and protecting residents' rights. By creating a clientcentered data repository, the LACPD has been empowered to advocate for targeted justice reform policies that address the specific needs of Los Angeles County. The CCMS's integration with other county and state justice systems has enabled enhanced data sharing and collaboration across the team. Before his tenure with the LACPD, Al Rawi was the CIO of the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department and served as the Deputy for Technology and Innovation for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Second District. His career also includes a role as the Technical Director for the Los Angeles Times' news bureau in Baghdad, where he covered the Iraq war and its aftermath. Al Rawi's leadership and the transformative success of the CCMS have earned him widespread recognition, including being named one of the nation's Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers by Government Technology. He has received numerous accolades, such as the Service to the Citizen Award, and the Best of California award. With over 20 years of experience managing complex information technology operations across public and private sectors, Mohammed Al Rawi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, graduating summa cum laude from California State Los Angeles.

Patrick Robinson is the founder and owner of VSV Leadership, a consultancy specializing in organizational leadership, coaching, project management, design thinking, and data/management opportunities. In 2020, he co-founded “Prosecution Leaders of Now,” a national leadership development community for prosecutors featuring coursework hosted by the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Prior to starting VSV Leadership, Patrick led strategy and grant-making for innovation in prosecution at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Patrick is an experienced military prosecutor and former Special Assistant US Attorney in the Western District of Texas. During his service in the U.S. Army, Patrick served as a prosecutor and defense counsel, and he deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom as a Special Operations legal advisor. Following his military service, Patrick returned to school as a Pat Tillman Scholar, earning his MBA from Stanford University and graduating as an Arjay Miller Scholar. Patrick received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 2008 and he graduated Summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2005.

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Aish Shukla is the first ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), overseeing all things technology, including infrastructure, security and IRAP’s digital experience. He brings two decades of experience in the software industry leading product management, engineering, IT and operations at companies like Microsoft, Oracle and most recently Salesforce, where Aish ran technology and operations for Salesforce’s global brand, inspiring, educating millions of professionals across the globe through digital channels and in-person events.

Hiwot is a Technical Advisor in Microsoft’s Office of Responsible AI where she provides deep expertise on responsible AI capabilities, collaborating closely with teams across the organization to support the development and adoption of responsible AI practices. Hiwot also serves as a co-chair on the Aether Fairness and Inclusiveness working group which helps develop perspectives and practices related to Microsoft’s goals and requirements around fairness and inclusiveness. Hiwot comes to Microsoft from SAS Institute where she most recently helped to create SAS’s first Data Ethics Practice and served as the lead data scientist. During her time at SAS, Hiwot worked as a data scientist in various capacities. She developed and operationalized a customer churn predictive model for internal use and later worked as Sr. Data Scientist in the Health and Life Sciences team where she advised health care customers on how to best leverage SAS’s machine learning platform for their data-driven initiatives. While at SAS, Hiwot served on the leadership council of SAS’s first Black employee resource group – the Black Initiatives Group (BIG) – since its inception, where she led and participated in efforts to recruit, retain, and promote Black talent at SAS. Hiwot holds a MSc. in Analytics from North Carolina State University’s Institute for Advanced Analytics and a BSc. in Economics and Nutritional Sciences from University of Toronto.

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Aswad Thomas, is the Vice President of the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), National Director of ASJ’s flagship project, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) and the author of a book titled, The Stars Represent You and Me. As an African American male, and a surviving victim of violence, Aswad is well aware of the impacts of trauma and loss that many, in communities across the country have experienced and continue to live with. In 2009, he became the first male in his family to graduate from college. He was just three weeks from going to Europe, to play professional basketball, when he became a victim of gun violence. Two near-fatal gunshots to his back, not only ended his basketball career, but nearly ended his life. Driven by this traumatic experience, and his passion for helping others learn to deal with their own trauma, Aswad has dedicated his life to organizing communities, and helping to elevate the voices of those victims and their families, through both state and federal policymaking debates. Aswad has become one of the country's leading policy experts on gun violence, criminal justice reform, and a leader in building coalitions across racial lines to advance safety. In his role, Aswad is dedicated to expanding ASJ’s national network of crime survivors, to include those most commonly affected by violence, most notably, young men of color. Aswad's story has been featured in the New York Times, Time Magazine, The Hill, New Yorker Magazine, NBC LX, NBC Nightly News, Huff Post, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News, The Trace, Detroit Free Press, Hartford Courant, The Guardian, VICE, The Marshall Project, and dozens of other media outlets. He was recently named one of The Root’s 100 most influential African Americans of 2021. Aswad received a Master's of Social Work, with a concentration in Community Organizing, and a focused area of study on Urban Issues, from the University of Connecticut and a B.A., in Business Management from Elms College.

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