Esmeralda Negron has been an attorney at the Office of the Public Defender for the 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida since June 2017. As an assistant public defender to the elected Public Defender, The Honorable Carey Haughwout, Esmeralda is committed to zealously protect and defend the rights of poor people whose lives and liberty are at stake. To date, she has tried fourteen cases to a jury verdict and five bench trials. She holds an A.M. in Comparative Religion from The University of Chicago Divinity School. In 2015, she earned her Juris Doctor from the NSU Shepard Broad College of Law in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She attended law school later in life and it was in law school—through her study of constitutional and criminal law—that she discovered her calling to represent the indigent accused. She considers it a privilege and a serious responsibility to accompany her clients and advocate on their behalf.