LETICIA MARQUEZ
Office of the Federal Public Defender, Capital Habeas Unit
407 W. Congress, Suite 501, Tucson Arizona 85701
(520) 879-7614 (office)
(602) 879-7542 (direct line)
leticia_marquez@fd.org
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, DISTRICT OF ARIZONA (8/99 to present) - Assistant
Federal Public Defender, Supervisor, Capital Habeas Unit. Representation of individuals
seeking federal habeas corpus review of death penalty sentences. Appear before district
courts, Circuit Courts of Appeals, United States Supreme Court, state courts in collateral
litigation and administrative boards (e.g. clemency board). Consult with private and state
defense attorneys handling death penalty cases at trial, on appeals and in collateral litigation.
Also, directly supervise 19 attorneys and numerous professional staff, including assisting in
case and budget projections.
LAW OFFICE OF CARLA G. RYAN (10/96 - 7/99) - Associate Attorney. Practice included
criminal appeals at all levels, including state direct appeals, post-conviction proceedings and
federal habeas corpus, specializing in capital cases.
ADMISSIONS
Supreme Court of the United States (November 2003)
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (July 1997)
United States District Court for the District of Arizona (July 1997)
Supreme Court of Arizona (October 1996)
EDUCATION
JURIS DOCTORATE - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA- COLLEGE OF LAW (May 1995)
UNDERGRADUATE - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (May 1992)
Major: Political Science, Bachelor of Arts Degree
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS
Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, State Bar of Arizona (June 2009 to
present); Indigent Defense Task Force, State Bar of Arizona (1998 to present); Capital
Habeas Unit Peer Review, Defender Services Division of the Administrative Office for the
United States Courts (2000 - present); Morris K. Udall, Inn of Court (2005 - 2006);
Committee on Minorities and Women in the Law, State Bar of Arizona (2002 - 2003);
President, Arizona Minority Bar Association (AMBA); Member, Arizona Attorneys for
Criminal Justice (AACJ); Member, Pima County Bar Association (PCBA.); Member,
Arizona Women Lawyers Association (AWLA).
SELECTED SEMINAR & COURSE PRESENTATIONS
Grief in the Workplace: When Clients Die. Administrative Office of the United States Courts,
Capital Habeas Corpus Unit Conference (Austin, TX April 2011)
Intro to Mental Health; The Fight for Life: Moving Forward Death Penalty Conference 2010.
Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, Office of the Legal Advocate & the Federal
Public Defender’s Office (Phoenix, AZ December 2010)
Effective Use of Witness Declarations. Orientation Seminar for Assistant Federal Defenders.
Administrative Office of the United States Courts Office of Defender Services Training
Branch (Santa Fe, NM November 2010)
Grief in the Workplace: When Clients Die, Parts I and II. Administrative Office of the United States
Courts, Capital Habeas Corpus Unit Conference (Chicago, IL April 2010)
Brainstorming and Developing Your Theory of the Case, Office of the Georgia Capital Defemder.
Annual Training (Cordele, GA June 2010)
Identifying Signs & Symptoms of Mental Health Problems & Thinking About Psychological
Evaluations in Capital Cases, Office of the Georgia Capital Defender Annual Training
(Cordele, GA June 2010)
Effective Use of Witness Declarations. Orientation Seminar for Assistant Federal Defenders.
Administrative Office of the United States Courts Office of Defender Services Training
Branch (Santa Fe, NM November 2010)
Mental Health & Competency Issues on Appeal & PCR. Capital Appeals Training, Maricopa Public
Defender’s Office & Federal Public Defender’s Office (November 2010)
Ethical Issues Confronting Criminal Defense Attorneys. Winning Strategies Seminar. Administrative
Office of the United States Courts Office of Defender Services Training Branch (Phoenix-
Scottsdale, AZ June 2008)
CHU Recruitment and Retention; Not Just a Management Issue. Administrative Office of the United
States Courts, Capital Habeas Corpus Unit Conference (Fort Lauderdale, FL April 2008)
Competence to Proceed in Federal Habeas Corpus Proceedings: Rohan Holmes, and the Treatment
of Claims of Incompetence to Proceed in the District Courts. Administrative Office of the
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United States Courts, Capital Habeas Corpus Unit Conference (Fort Lauderdale, FL April
2008)
Recruiting Colleagues of Color. Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Capital Habeas
Corpus Unit Conference (Santa Monica, CA May 2007)
What Have We Learned Since Last Year? Annual Death Penalty Conference 2006. Maricopa Public
Defender’s Office (Phoenix, AZ December 2006)
Looking Forward- What Are the Issues to Litigate; Annual Death Penalty Conference 2005.
Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, Office of the Legal Advocate & the Federal
Public Defender’s Office (Phoenix, AZ December 2005)
The “Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005": How Real is it? How Bad is it? What Can be Done to
Stop it?. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Airlie Death Penalty Conference (Warrenton, VA July
2005).
Mental Retardation; Structuring a Case in Arizona. APDA Fourth Annual Statewide Conference
(Phoenix, AZ June 2005)
Mental Health & Related Issues: Building a Better Record; Stones in Our Pathways. Office of the
Federal Public Defender (Phoenix and Tucson, AZ May 2005)
Apprendi and Beyond; Compelling Defense Strategies; Blakley Crawford & Beyond. AACJ
Criminal Defense Conference and Seminar (Tucson, AZ September 2004)
Capital Habeas Unit Peer Review. Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Capital
Habeas Unit Conference (Ponte Verda, FL - May 2004).
AEDPA and Opt-In; Building Blocks For Life: Pretrial to Habeas. Annual Death Penalty
Conference 2000: Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office (Phoenix, AZ October 2000)
Recording Injustice: Strategies for Preserving Issues at Trial, Appeal and PCR; Battle for Justice.
AACJ Annual Criminal Defense Conference and Seminar (Prescott, AZ January 2000)
SIGNIFICANT REPORTED CASES
Gonzales v. Schriro, 623 F.3d 1242 (9th Cir. 2010)- capital case, evidentiary hearing grant on
competency to assist in habeas proceedings.
Sinisterra v. United States, 600 F.3d 900 (9th Cir. 2010)- federal capital case, remanded to the
district court for an evidentiary on whether trial counsel was ineffective at sentencing.
Jones v. Ryan, 538 F.3d 626 (9th Cir. 2009)- capital case, granting relief on ineffective assistance
of counsel claims.
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Summerlin v. Stewart, 427 F.3d 623 (9th Cir. 2005)(en banc), on remand from Schriro v. Summerlin.
542 U.S.348 (2004) - capital case, addressing ineffective assistance of counsel standards.
Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348, 124 S.Ct. 2519 ( 2004)- addressing retroactive application of
Ring v. Arizona.
Summerlin v. Stewart, 341 F.3d 1082 (9th Cir. 2003)(en banc), rev’d by Schriro v. Summerlin. 542
U.S.348 (2004) - addressing retroactive application of Ring v. Arizona.
AWARDS & HONORS
Pima County Bar Association’s Annual Robert J. Hooker Criminal Justice Award, 2010.
Chair, the 78th State Bar of Arizona Annual Convention, Raising the Bar- Inspiring Trust
and Delivering Service. (Tucson, AZ June 2011)
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