Wendy Mazzarella, JD

Deputy District Attorney

Family Protection Division, San Diego County DA's Office

 M14 WORKING WITH VICTIMS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE: LEGAL & ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Wendy Patrick Mazzarella is a Deputy District Attorney in the Family Protection Division of the San Diego District Attorney’s Office where she prosecutes cases involving domestic violence, child molestation and elder abuse.  Ms. Mazzarella was a Deputy Public Defender for San Diego County before she joined the District Attorney’s office.  Most of her practice is trial work; she has completed 82 criminal jury trials ranging from stalking, to torture, to first-degree murder. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of California Los Angeles, and her Law Degree from California Western School of Law.  Her legal education includes study in Vienna, Austria, Budapest, Hungary, and London, England.

Ms. Mazzarella lectures nationally and internationally on the topics of domestic violence, child molestation and child abuse.  She has presented on these topics at numerous national conferences and international conferences, has delivered legislative updates in the field of domestic violence for the National College of District Attorneys at their annual Domestic Violence conference in Reno, Nevada, and has been involved locally with both the San Diego Domestic Violence Council and the San Diego Child Protection Team. 

Ms. Mazzarella also specializes in Ethics.  She is the Chair of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Ethics Committee, and an accomplished public speaker on the topic of ethics both nationally and internationally.  She teaches ethics around the country on a regular basis for the National College of District Attorneys (NCDA) and other various legal organizations, statewide for the California State Bar Association, and locally for various legal, businesses, and educational institutions.  She is an ethics instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and an Institute of Criminal Investigation (ICI) Certified Instructor for law enforcement.   Ms. Mazzarella has been featured as a topic area expert on the radio, as well as both local and international television.