Assembly Member and Two Public Defenders Honored at Defenders' Conference

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2025 NYSDA Award Honorees Josette Colon (left), Kent Moston (center), and Latrice Walker (right)

ALBANY, NY (08/01/2025) (readMedia)-- The New York State Defenders Association (NYSDA) presented three awards on Monday during its 58th Annual Meeting and Conference, recognizing the impact and efforts of individuals dedicated to due process, the right to counsel, and zealous advocacy.

Latrice M. Walker, New York State Assembly Member (D-Brooklyn), received the 2025 Jonathan E. Gradess Service of Justice Award for her tireless support of legislation to ensure due process and state funding for public defense. Kent V. Moston, the Director of Training at the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County and retired Attorney in Chief of the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, accepted the 2025 Wilfred R. O'Connor Award for his 50 years of dedication to client-centered defense. Josette D. Colon, Schuyler County Public Defender, took home the 2025 Kevin M. Andersen Memorial Award for creating almost from scratch an office staffed and resourced to provide quality representation.

Walker's award recognized her "zealous commitment to the rule of law, due process, and the right to effective assistance of counsel for those who appear in criminal and family courts around New York State," stated NYSDA's Executive Director Susan C. Bryant. Garnering particular praise were Walker's steadfast defense of legislative reforms in the criminal legal system and efforts to move the State's policies concerning crime from draconian, continuing punishment to prevention and rehabilitation. She was also praised as "a leader in protecting families from unnecessary separation and trauma due to the family regulatory system" by NYSDA's Family Court Staff Attorney, Kimberly Bode.

Moston has brought his stellar legal talent to bear in multiple roles over fifty years as a public defender. In 2001, he "assumed the reins of the [Nassau County] Legal Aid Society at a critical juncture, when the Society's financial circumstances were bleak and the office's very survival was in peril," said current Attorney in Chief Scott Banks. The office not only survived but maintained "its role as the primary provider of excellent indigent legal services in Nassau County" due to Moston's steadfast leadership, Banks concluded. Other aspects of Moston's career, including his ongoing work providing training and mentorship to defenders in his current position as Director of Training at the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County, were also recognized.

Colon took on the role of Schuyler County Public Defender in September 2023, at which time she was making all the office's appearances in criminal and family court because there were no other employees. She also met with county and state officials who could affect the office funding and functions, and now leads a staff of five assistant attorneys, two secretaries, and an investigator. Assistant Public Defender Eliese R. Herzl-Betz noted that Colon's skills enable her to "get the best possible outcomes for her clients" and to make sure every employee has "the tools they need to succeed." In support of NYSDA's recognition of Colon, several other staff members praised Colon's work and leadership skills, including her "great character values, such as being honorable, resilient, ambitious, flexible," and "patient and compassionate" with clients and employees alike.

The Jonathan E. Gradess Service of Justice Award, named for NYSDA's founding Executive Director, recognizes individuals and organizations that have uniquely supported NYSDA and the defender community.

The Wilfred R. O'Connor Award is named for a founding member of the Defenders Association who was its president from 1978 to 1989. He believed every defendant, regardless of race, color, creed, or economic status, deserves a day in court and zealous client-centered representation.

The Kevin M. Andersen Memorial Award is presented to an attorney who has been in practice less than fifteen years, who practices in public defense, and who exemplifies the sense of justice, determination, and compassion that were the hallmarks of its namesake, a lawyer at the Genesee County Public Defender's Office.

NYSDA is a not-for-profit membership organization that provides support to lawyers and programs who provide legal representation to people who cannot afford to hire an attorney in criminal or certain family court matters. The Association receives State funding to provide training, publications, and other services to public defense attorneys. NYSDA's mission is to improve the quality and scope of publicly supported legal representation.