Defense community honors Anne Burger

Assistant Federal Public Defender Anne M. Burger grew up in a household where her father championed the underdog and found it offensive when people were treated unfairly because they lacked money or social status.

It is something that still sticks with her and why, when she became an attorney, she went into criminal defense work for the indigent.

Her efforts were recognized Friday by her colleagues when she was presented with the 2012 Jeffrey A. Jacobs Award at the 2012 Defense Community Dinner at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

“Anne is a dedicated prepared attorney who provides excellent representation to our clients every day,” said Mark D. Hosken, supervisory assistant federal public defender who introduced her at the dinner. “She is an outstanding choice for this’ years Jeff Jacobs Award.”

Among her standout work, as noted by Roger Brazill, Monroe County first assistant public defender, was a child pornography case Burger successfully defended in January, garnering praise from U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer.

Brazill, who chairs the Jeffrey A. Jacobs Awards Committee, said the case involved computer images. He said the defendant was “the neighborhood Mr. Fix-it” who was kind of a hoarder and had piles and piles of computers and related equipment in his home.

“Anne dove into the subject matter and learned what she could about computers, the operating system within the machines, how computer forensic examinations are conducted and, more importantly, what assumptions are made from forensic examinations that are not supported by the facts,” said Hosken. “Overall, Anne’s dedicated preparation, her professionalism and outstanding performance at trial resulted in the defendant being found not guilty on both counts.”

Burger thoroughly prepared for the case, presenting her own experts, including a DNA expert who testified the DNA evidence on a computer disc was too slight to even test, contrary to containing more than ample samples if the defendant had been using it as claimed.

“She garnered high accolades from the judge in the trial who thought she had done an exceptional job,” Brazill said, noting the case fell into the Jeff Jacobs criteria involving forensic evidence and very solid information.

The award recognizes a criminal defense attorney who exemplifies fierce advocacy, dedication to clients, perseverance and a commitment to fair justice — qualities epitomized by Jacobs, who served in the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office for more than 20 years until his death in November 2006.

“He was a great, great person to work with on a personal level, but just a great attorney to learn from,” Burger said of Jacobs, whom she worked with the county public defender’s office for seven years before joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office in August 2006.

Brazill said Burger, one of five nominees, was the universal choice of the committee.

“She’s an exceptionally bright attorney,” he said. “Her strongest suit is extraordinary preparation. She spends a lot of time preparing and she also is an exceptionally good motion writer. She’s also somebody who doesn’t seek out a limelight. She’s a very humble person, but holds herself to a very high standard.”

Burger admitted she felt embarrassed about receiving the award; saying there are a number of public defenders assigned counsel who work as hard as she does and have been at it for a lot longer.

“It’s very flattering, but it makes me feel uncomfortable for that reason,” she said.

Burger first became aware of the legal system during dinner table discussions when her parents would talk about the day’s news and social injustices.

Burger first thought she would have an international career. She earned a degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh. She also studied Chinese before heading to Taiwan where she lived for a year. Then she got “a great offer” from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, returned and got her law degree in 1994.

While in school, she did a few internships, including one at the Federal Public Defender’s Office. She knew she wanted to pursue human rights-related law, again thinking it would be more global, something like working for Amnesty International. Then she had a campus interview with the Legal Aid Society of New York City and the rest, she said, was history. She went to work in Queens, representing indigent people as a trial and an appellate attorney.

“I got a sense of the need first-hand,” she said. “I think those internships sent me down that other road, doing public defender work.”

While there, she got engaged to Michael A. Burger, another attorney working at the Legal Aid Society. After they got engaged, they decided they would rather live upstate, seeking a better quality of life and not having to spend three-hours on a daily commute.

Brazill, who had also worked at the Legal Aid Society, told her about an opportunity in Rochester and when former Public Defender Edward J. Nowak was at a conference in New York City, she reached out to him; shortly after that, joining both of them at the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in 1999.

Her husband became part of the Litigation Team at Davidson Fink LLP before branching out with Fernando Santiago and Dennis J. Annechino about a year ago to form their own firm, Santiago Burger Annechino LLP.

“He was great,” Burger said of her spouse. “He was on board with the program. It’s been great. Our only regret, I think, is we haven’t been successful in getting our downstate friends to move up, too.”

Like her father, Burger continues to watch out for the underdog, making sure people are treated fairly no matter how much money they have or what challenges they face with language barriers or a lack of education.

“That’s what keeps me motivated,” she said. “Why should someone receive less of a fair shake because they’re poor? We talk about that concept of equal justice under the law. It really shouldn’t be about how much money you have or who your parents were.”

Burger said the other thing that really helps is the team in her office, working together with staff members getting to know their clients and families.

“I can’t say enough about the people I work with here,” she said. “They provide a whole lot of support. Everybody’s on the same page. Everyone has the same sort of goal in mind; getting the best outcome we can for the client. It’s a wonderful place to work. I think it sends a message to the client that they’re important; they’re not just a file.”

When not defending people, Burger likes to do home improvement projects at her fixer-upper in the city where she lives with her husband, their 4-year-old daughter Jane, and their dog.

She said she has a nice collection of woodworking tools. She also likes to work out in a little garden behind their home.

Burger is a member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

About 85 people attended the dinner.

“We’re very pleased,” said Monroe County Public Defender Timothy P. Donaher. “It went very well.”

The event also featured local defense attorney Donald M. Thompson, of Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin LLP, speaking about the exoneration of Martin H. Tankleff, a Long Island man who spent 17 years in prison for the murders of his parents.

Tankleff, who was released in 2007 when the Appellate Division, Second Department, vacated the convictions, was supposed to be the keynote speaker, but had a personal emergency and was unable to attend. He did answer questions via telephone, which Donaher and Thompson held to the microphone.

Tankleff was 17 in 1988 when his parents were killed. He was convicted of their murders in 1990.

— Photos by Vasiliy Baziuk