Washoe County Chief Deputy Public Defender named 2015 Defender of the Year

Maizie Pusich is the first public defender from Northern Nevada to be named Defender of the Year.

Reno, Nevada. June 29, 2015. Washoe County Chief Deputy Public Defender Maizie Pusich has been named the 2015 Defender of the Year by the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice (NACJ), a statewide organization of public and private criminal defense attorneys. 

Maizie has been a defense attorney for 27 years, serving as a deputy public defender for 24 of those years. She is the first public defender from Northern Nevada to be named Defender of the Year. Maizie specializes in defending adults charged with serious crimes. During her career, she has represented more than a thousand people, including serving as lead counsel in 43 murder cases.

Maizie was partly recognized for her recent representation of Cathy Woods. Ms. Woods was freed from prison in Sept. 2014, after serving nearly 35 years for a murder she did not commit. The case against Ms. Woods was finally dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office in March 2015, when DNA tied the case to the Gypsy Hill killer in Central California. 

Maizie was also recognized for her service to NACJ, where she served as an executive officer for the past eight years.

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