Executive Board
President – Michael Davis focuses on complex state and federal litigation at Kuehne Davis, P.A., formally known as Law Offices Benedict P. Kuehne. A graduate of Stetson University, Davis began his appellate career successfully competing in moot court competitions. A former law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington, Davis joined the Appellate Division of the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. Davis has argued before the Third DCA, the Florida Supreme Court, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, securing more than 30 written opinions. He is a regular CLE presenter.
Davis serves on the Stetson University Board of Trustees, is a Board member of his church, Bread of Life Community Church. He also serves on several boards of directors, including the Virgil Hawkins Chapter of the National Bar Association, the Dade County Bar Association, and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami Chapter.
President Elect – Dianne Carames has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2009 and a member of the Southern District of Florida since 2012. She worked as an Assistant Public Defender with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office since 2010 where she gained invaluable experience as a trial attorney handling hundreds of different cases. In 2016 she joined Sabrina Puglisi as an associate at Puglisi Law, where she currently helps run a law practice handling Federal and State criminal defense matters. In 2019 Dianne was appointed to the Southern District of Florida’s CJA panel, where she continues her public service by providing legal representation to accused persons who are financially unable to retain counsel.
Vice President – Lauren Field Krasnoff has spent her career committed to indigent criminal defense. Lauren started her career as a Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, where she practiced in the Juvenile, County Court, and Felony divisions before serving as a Felony Training Attorney and then as a Senior Supervising Attorney. After nearly eight years as a state PD, Lauren shifted gears and joined the Federal Defender’s Office, where she has been practicing since 2018
Lauren has been on the board of FACDL-Miami since 2015. She has chaired the Lunch with the Judges committee, the Amendment Four Committee, and the Federal Liaison Committee. She is a proud alumni of Washington University in St. Louis and the Cardozo School of Law in New York. During the pandemic, Lauren has become especially skilled at protest poster-making(drawing on her camp counselor days) and Dolly Parton Peloton rides, and she became a Red Cross Certified Lifeguard – so she’s now qualified to protect you from both the federal government and the rough tides of South Beach
Secretary – Zena X. Duncan is an experienced trial attorney practicing criminal law throughout the state of Florida for the past 19 years. She graduated from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Florida in 2002, after receiving a Master's of Arts in History from Morgan State and Cornell Universities. Zena started her legal career as an Assistant Public Defender at the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office in 2002. She quickly rose through the office trying over 50 trials during her 4-year tenure. After leaving the Public Defender's office, Zena did civil litigation with The Probinsky Law Firm and in late 2006 started the Duncan Law Firm. Since 2009, Zena has also held a position with the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, 3rd Region, as an Assistant Regional Counsel.
As an attorney and community leader, Zena’s goal through her years of public service, has always been to serve the community and those in need by fighting injustice, systemic racism and the inequitable norms facing her clients. She has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Miami chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL) for the past 7 years, and also maintains membership with the Miami Dade Bar Association, and the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Assoc. She is an attorney for the Mexican Consulate (Miami) handling criminal cases for indigent Mexican nationals and is a lecturer for the Prelaw Society and Black Student Union Association for American Heritage Schools.
Treasurer – Keyla Smith graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing and a Master’s degree in Sport Administration. She went on to earn a Juris Doctor from Florida International University where she became a Teaching Assistant and mentor to 1L students. After graduating in 2014, Keyla was honored with a position at the Miami Public Defender’s Office as an Assistant Public Defender. Keyla exceled as a Public Defender, earning the Inaugural Gideon’s Hope Scholarship for her zealous advocacy, client representation, and professionalism. In her fourth year as a Public Defender, Keyla was a County Court Training Attorney, teaching newly barred attorneys the intricacies of criminal defense work. During her five years at the Public Defender’s Office, Keyla tried over thirty jury trials, ranging from misdemeanors to punishable by life felonies.
Keyla joined FACDL-Miami during her first year as an attorney; she has been an active member since. In her third year as a member of FACDL, she was elected as a Board Member, and continued to hold a position on the Board for three consecutive years. In 2018, Keyla collaborated with then-President Michelle Estlund to plan and host FACDL’s Inaugural Speed Mentoring Event. The event brought new attorneys and experienced attorneys together to foster a relationship between the two groups that would strengthen the criminal defense bar in Miami-Dade. In 2019, Keyla hosted the Second Annual FACDL Speed Mentoring Event. The same year, she received the 2019 James T. Miller Scholar Award from FACDL-Statewide for people who “exemplify the character, competency, dedication and humility to the enhancement of the proper administration of criminal justice.
Immediate Past President – Kevin Hellmann has devoted his career to public defense for the past twenty-six years. Since December 2012, he has served as Director of Training, Professionalism and Leadership Development at the Law Offices of Carlos J. Martinez, Public Defender in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade, Florida. From 2007 through 2012, Kevin was a Senior Supervising Attorney in the Felony Division and from 2003 to 2007, he was Training Coordinator of the Juvenile Division.
Kevin has served as an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County since 1996. As a trial lawyer, he has directly represented hundreds of indigent clients accused of misdemeanors and felonies. From 1996 to present, he has tried over seventy criminal jury trials and 225 bench trials ranging from misdemeanors to first degree murder. In 1995, before working in Miami, Kevin was an attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a non-profit organization representing indigent residents of Harlem and the Bronx in criminal cases.
Kevin is recognized as a Board Certified Expert in Criminal Trial Law by The Florida Bar since 2016. In August 2020, he was selected as a member of the 11th Circuit Grievance Committee of The Florida Bar. In 2018, Kevin received the President’s Award from the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami Chapter for his ongoing Continuing Legal Education training sessions. Since January 2012, Kevin has taught Trial Skills as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami School of Law. He has also taught Criminal Litigation as an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University College of Law during the summer sessions of 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Kevin has presented training sessions throughout Florida and across the country on various legal issues. In April 2021, he presented a Fourth Amendment training for The Florida Bar 2021 Board Certification Exam in Criminal Trial Law. In October 2020, he presented “Racial Bias in Jury Selection” to the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. In July 2019 and 2021, he has been a faculty member for the Public Defender/Prosecutor Trial Training Program conducted by The Florida Bar at the University of Florida Law School. He has also presented several trainings for the Florida Public Defender Association and FACDL-Miami, including Evidentiary Trial Objections, Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Delinquency Cases and Professional Responsibility for Juvenile Defense Lawyers.
Kevin obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1988 and his Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1995. In law school, he was Articles Editor for the Journal of Law and Policy and received the Edward Sparer and Charles Revson public interest law fellowships. His legal note, The Fallacy of Dueling Sovereignties: Why the Supreme Court Refuses to Eliminate the Dual Sovereignty Doctrine, 2 J.L & Pol’y 149, was published in 1994.
Board of Directors
Mara Apostol
Michael Catalano
Audra Cohen
James Dubray
Devon Frampton
Edith Georgi
Marissa Glatzer
Nayib Hassan
Brad Horenstein
Phil Horowitz
TerryAnn Howell
Carin Levine
Jeremy McLymont
Tony Moss
Prya Murad
Annabelle Nahra Nadler
Paul Petruzzi
Chad Piotrowski
Alex Saiz
Warren Schwartz
Rae Shearn
Jennifer Thorton
Dan Tibbitt
Yisel Villar
Young Lawyer Directors
Devon Frampton
Federal and State Public Defender and Regional Conflict
Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez
Federal Defender Michael Caruso
Regional Counsel Eugene Zenobi
Statewide Chapter Representatives
Tony Moss
Matthew Meyers
Leonard Sands
Life Members
Michael A. Catalano
Robert Coulombe Jr.
Ramon De La Cabada
Christopher DeCoste
Patrick S. Dray
Mark R. Eiglarsh
Scott H. Fingerhut
Rick Freedman
Edith Georgi
Michael A. Haber
Kenneth P. Hassett
David Joffe
Albert J. Krieger
Benedict P. Kuehne
Beatriz A. Llorente
David O. Markus
Margot Moss
Tony Moss
Paul Petruzzi
Sabrina Puglisli
Elliot H. Scherker
Janice Burton Sharpstein
Rae Shearn
Brian L. Tannebam
Barry Wax
Jeffrey S. Weiner
Eugene Zenobi
Past Presidents/Directors Emeritus
| Year | Name |
| 2021 | Kevin Hellmann |
| 2020 | Matthew Meyers |
| 2019 | Michelle Estlund |
| 2018 | Carmen Vizcaino |
| 2017 | Marcos Beaton |
| 2016 | Brian Kirlew |
| 2015 | Teresa Enriquez |
| 2014 | Margot Moss |
| 2013 | Eduardo X. Pereira |
| 2012 | Jude M. Faccidomo |
| 2011 | Beatriz A. “Betty" Llorente |
| 2010 | Sabrina Puglisi |
| 2009 | Hector L. Flores |
| 2008 | Rick Freedman |
| 2007 | Barry M. Wax |
| 2006 | David O. Markus |
| 2005 | Brian L. Tannebaum |
| 2004 | H. Scott Fingerhut |
| 2003 | Kenneth P. Hassett |
| 2002 | Paul M. Rashkind |
| 2001 | Leonard A. Sands |
| 2000 | Gregory A. Prebish (dec.) |
| 1999 | Jeffrey E. Feiler |
| 1998 | Kenneth M. Swartz |
| 1997 | Pamela I. Perry |
| 1996 | Honorable Richard L. Hersch |
| 1995 | Steven M. Potolsky |
| 1994 | Honorable Robert N. Scola, Jr. |
| 1993 | David B. Rothman |
| 1992 | William Aaron |
| 1991 | Honorable Milton Hirsch |
| 1990 | Benedict P. Kuehne |
| 1989 | Jose M. Quinon |
| 1988 | Honorable Theodore Klein (dec.) |
| 1987 | Edward R. Shohat |
| 1986 | Richard A. Sharpstein (dec.) |
| 1985 | Richard A. Sharpstein (dec.) |
| 1984 | Neal R. Sonnett |
| 1982 | Honorble Stanford Blake |
| 1981 | Jeffrey S. Weiner |
| 1980 | Stephen J. Bronis |
| 1979 | Honorable Ronald C. Dresnick |
| 1978 | Alan E. Weinstein |
| 1977 | James G. Gilmour |
| 1976 | Thomas J. Morgan, Sr. |
| 1975 | Sky E. Smith |
| 1974 | Marco B. Loffredo(dec.) |
| 1973 | Marco B. Loffredo(dec.) |
| 1970 | Walter Gwynn (dec.) |
| 1969 | Robert L. Koeppel (dec.) |
| 1968 | Arthur B. Stark (dec.) |
| 1967 | Arthur B. Stark (dec.) |
| 1966 | Mitchell M. Goldman |
| 1965 | Philip Carlton (dec.) |
| 1964 | Philip Carlton (dec.) |
| 1963 | Harry W. Prebish (dec.) |