Recent Press
The Office of Defense Services is committed to transparency and helping members of the press as much as possible, whenever possible. Below are recent pieces of press about the office or involving staff.
Members of the media should contact Liz Evans, Chief of Staff, at liz.evans@delaware.gov, or at (302)-577-5155.
Dr. Tanya Whittle, who now serves in the Office of Defense Services post-disposition unit, was featured by Delaware Online on August 7th, 2026, for her outstanding work in facilitating the University of Delaware’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, an initiative aimed at bringing hope, opportunity, and access to higher education to people incarcerated in Delaware. Read the full Delaware Online Story, “University of Delaware Class Sees Education Reach Across Prison Walls”.
The second annual Building Bridges to Success: Community Resource Fair and Expungement Clinic hosted by Re-Entry Delaware in collaboration with the Delaware Office of Defense Services and Wilmington University was covered by NBC 10 on August 4th 2026. The event featured support services and employers aimed at helping formerly incarcerated individuals and community members rebuild their lives and seek second chance relief for Delaware criminal records.
Office of Defense Services Chief Defender, Kevin O’Connell, has been recognized for a third consecutive year by the Delaware News Journal as one of Delaware’s most influential and inspirational leaders in law for 2026. Under Kevin’s leadership, ODS has evolved beyond traditional legal representation – embracing a holistic defense model and building a more comprehensive client-centered, and community-driven approach to defense services in our state.
On May 9th, 2025, the Delaware Office of Defense Services hosted the first annual Building Bridges to Success: Community Resource Fair and Expungement Clinic in Kent County, Delaware in collaboration with Wilmington University and Re-Entry Delaware. Our very own Chief of Legal Services, Lisa Minutola, was interviewed by WBOC speaking on the importance of these types of events for Delawareans long term success.
On November 22nd, 2024, Dawn Williams and Maria Whiting, supervisors of the Office of Defense Services Client Advocate Unit, were featured in the Delaware News Journal for their advancements and contributions towards collaborative defense efforts in partnership with Partners for Justice. Through their guidance and mentorship, ODS’ Client Advocate Unit is able to provide wraparound services statewide to better the lives of our clients each day. ODS was one of two pilot programs for Partners for Justice starting in 2018 and has continued to grow over the last six years.
Misty Seemans, ODS Family Court Supervisor and expert in all things police misconduct, wrote an Op Ed for Delaware Online on August 9th, 2024, expressing the pressing need for meaningful police reform in Delaware. As Misty said, “This past year has shown us that police misconduct is still occurring and people care that it is still happening in their backyards, where they shop, and to people that they know.”
On June 6th, 2024, The Office of Defense Services collaborated with the Food Bank of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Justice to host the Summer Job and Community Resource Fair in Milford, Delaware. The event featured over 30 community resource providers and second chance relief services aimed at creating a one-stop-shop for Delawareans in need of essential resources.
In February of 2024, Delaware Online published an article regarding the jury acquittal of an innocent New Castle County man in a murder trial. Assistant Public Defender Ralph Wilkinson played a substantial role in the outcome of the case and was quoted in the article.
The Office of Defense Services made the Associated Press for Delaware Supreme Court says out-of-state convictions don’t bar expungement of in-state offenses in 2023 regarding their advocacy work that led to the Delaware Supreme Court’s ruling that out of state convictions will no longer bar expungements in Delaware!
Post Disposition Unit Head and Assistant Public Defender Eliza Hirst was featured in the Cape Gazette discussing ODS’ involvement in the Clean Slate Delaware Expungement Clinic in Sussex County, as well as the Post Disposition Unit’s ongoing expungement/pardon efforts statewide. View the article here for Trinity Faith Christian Center helps give people a new chance in life.
Client Advocate Susannah Gale wrote an op-ed explaining the hardships of eviction, the detrimental impact of unstable housing, and the importance of the right to representation in eviction proceedings. Read the op-ed here for Delaware moves forward on eviction protections. There’s more to do .
The Delaware Way broadcast a segment on juvenile justice reform, including our efforts to expand juvenile expungements. Check it out here for The Delaware Way Lisa Minutola.
Chief of Legal Services Lisa Minutola was interviewed by Delaware Public Media about a package of juvenile justice bills the office is promoting, along with House Democrats.
Chief Defender Brendan O’Neill was featured in a story on PBS Newshour’s website about the fight to bring back Delaware’s death penalty.
An expungement clinic hosted by the Office of Defense Services was featured on WHYY’s Newsworks web site. The clinic helped nearly 100 people.
Attorneys from the Office of Defense Services have successfully argued that Delaware’s death penalty is unconstitutional. Their work received attention in the local and national press. Assistant Public Defender Santino Ceccotti, who argued the case before the Delaware Supreme Court, was quoted by the Associated Press for Delaware’s Death Penalty Law Struck Down by State Supreme Court, Reuters, and by local outlets like the News Journal and Delaware Public Media.
Lisa Minutola, ODS’s chief of legal services, and Dawn Williams, the office’s director of training and development, had an article about the Gault decision and the work Delaware needs to do to fulfill the promise of the landmark case featured in the May 2016 edition of the Delaware Bar Association Journal on pages 28 and 29.
Our juvenile justice efforts, including a personal take on juvenile shackling, was written about in the News Journal last week.
Many of our legislative efforts were highly discussed in the press during the 148th General Assembly, as noted here in this political wrap-up story for Legislature leaves big questions unanswered by the News Journal.
An expungement clinic being run by our office, as well as several other partners, was previewed in an article by the News Journal.
Our office was featured in a podcast called Remaking Murdertown, which discusses the problems facing Wilmington. The whole series can be listened to here for podcast whole series.
Lisa Minutola, ODS’s Chief of Legal Services, was on the Delaware Way this month to discuss the office’s efforts in Dover to reform the juvenile justice system.
On June 15 the Associated Press filed a story about oral arguments over the constitutionality of Delaware’s death penalty. Santino Ceccotti, an attorney with ODS, delivered the arguments in front of the Delaware Supreme Court and was quoted in the <!– –>story.
On June 9 an op-ed co-authored by Lisa Minutola, ODS’s Chief of Legal Services, ran in the News Journal and on delawareonline.com. The op-ed decried calls for more police presence in schools.
Attorneys from the Office of Defense Services were featured in a Delaware State News article on April 19 that outlined their response to DOJ attorneys in the legal battle to end the state’s death penalty.
A Kids Caucus meeting that focused on juvenile justice issues received coverage in the press from the Delaware State News for Kids Caucus meeting that focused on juvenile justice issues and the News Journal.
Matt Albright of the News Journal detailed legislative efforts by ODS and its partners to address issues in the juvenile justice system, such as expungements, indiscriminate shackling, transfer laws, and civil citations, in a front page article published on Monday, March 28.
A bill that would end the practice of indiscriminate juvenile shackling received positive press after state lawmakers released it from committee. The Office of Defense Services played an integral role in pushing the legislation.
The Delaware State News for Office of Defense Services in a March article featured the Office of Defense Services in a March article about ongoing efforts to reform the state’s juvenile defense system.
