Education

Law School/Year: California Western School of Law, 1994

Other Graduate School/Year: Current Student Bethel Seminary, Anticipated Masters of Divinity Degree, 2009

College/Year: UCLA, 1990

Bar Admissions

California State Court; U.S. District Court, Southern District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court

Practice Areas

Criminal Law

Major Cases

Wendy Patrick Mazzarella has prosecuted several high-profile cases that have drawn a significant amount of media attention in the area of domestic violence and child abuse. She has prosecuted several complex murder cases involving mental health issues and dueling psychiatric experts, and handles child molestation, rape and sexual assault cases as part of her daily caseload. She has handled a variety of complicated cases involving multiple defendants, including one case that was tried to two jury panels simultaneously.

Professional Background

Mazzarella started her career as a Deputy Public Defender before joining the District Attorney's Office. She has completed approximately 135 criminal trials including 86 jury trials ranging from hate crime, to torture, to first-degree murder. Currently assigned to the Sex Crimes and Stalking Division, she prosecutes sex offenders and sexually violent predators. Prior to her current assignment she spent years in the Family Protection Division, served as the director of the Serious Habitual Offender Unit in the Juvenile Division, and worked in Special Operations, where she reviewed and prosecuted cases against law enforcement and lawyers, as well as reviewed officer-involved shootings.

Professional Affiliations

Mazzarella is serving her fourth year as chair of the San Diego County Bar Association’s Ethics Committee, is one of 16 members of the California State Bar Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the California State Bar Criminal Law Section. She is a master in the Louis M. Welsh American Inn of Court. Mazzarella teaches and lectures, is an Institute of Criminal Investigation certified instructor for law enforcement, and has been featured on the radio and television.

Mazzarella is is co-author of the Revised Reading People (Random House, 2008), was a contributing author to Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls, and Controversies (SAGE, 2004), and to the Encyclopedia of Race and Racism (Macmillan Reference, 2007). She has her own ethics column in The Daily Transcript, and a regular column in Law Enforcement Quarterly.

Personal Affiliations

In a different genre of programs, Mazzarella presents motivational seminars, keynote speeches and workshops nationwide. She is a frequent conference opening speaker around the country on the subjects of reading people and how to make a great impression, and she also presents at law firm and business retreats and workshops on the topics of leadership, building partnerships and how to communicate with difficult people.

In her spare time, Mazzarella plays first violin with the La Jolla Symphony and plays the electric violin professionally with a rock band, performing around San Diego County and in Hollywood. She also holds a purple belt in karate.

Personal Background

Mazzarella is a California native, whose passion in life is traveling with her family. Recent escapades have taken them from Antarctica to Iceland and Greenland, to last year’s summer vacation to the North Pole. She is also passionate about Christianity and pursuing a better life. She holds a Certified Biblical Counseling certificate from Horizon College and will graduate with a Masters in Divinity degree from Bethel Seminary in June 2009. This passion is a commitment shared by her family, including her sister Jennifer Patrick, an attorney specializing in religious freedoms law, business and corporate law, and First Amendment law.