Attorney Michelle S. Cruz

Attorney Michelle Cruz has over twenty years experience working with crime victims in a myriad of diverse roles. In November of 2007, Governor M. Jodi Rell appointed her as Connecticut’s 2^nd State Victim Advocate to head the Office of the Victim Advocate, an independent crime victims’ rights agency. Attorney Cruz diligently fought against the early release program in CT which led to the release of 7,589 violent offenders, including Frankie Resto who murdered Ibrahim Ghazal only few months after being released early.

She has argued numerous motions on behalf of CT crime victims, including a successful argument that allowed Dr. William Petit, the surviving family member of the Cheshire ,CT triple homicide, to attend the entire capital felony murder trial. She was also successful in advocating for the creation of a State Missing Persons Unit within the CT’s Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

Michelle has an Associate’s Degree in Administration of Justice from Napa Valley College in California; a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and a Law Degree from the University of Connecticut, School of Law, where she was a Notes and Comments Editor on the Public Interest Law Journal. After law school she served as an Assistant District Attorney in Massachusetts and was assigned to both District and Superior Courts. She specialized in the prosecution of offenders charged with child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence and handled these complex cases from investigation through grand jury indictment and trial. While in Superior Court, she successfully convicted a sex offender for indecent assault and battery for a kiss of a minor child through introducing evidence of the offender’s grooming of the victim to establish his ill intent.

Attorney Cruz has published numerous articles and has made numerous appearances on both radio and television. Michelle is a Lecturer at Law at the University of Connecticut, School of Law, and serves as an Adjunct Instructor at Bay Path College and Capital Community College.

After leaving the OVA, Attorney Cruz opened a private law practice in CT serving clients in MA and CT.

Michelle Cruz is a regular contributor to the Connecticut Law Tribune