Gina Vacanari

I am currently employed with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office as a Paralegal in the Special Victims Division, Sex Crimes Bureau.  The County Attorney’s nationally recognized Sex Crimes Bureau is responsible for prosecuting cases involving sexual abuse of children and adults, child prostitution, child pornography, and computer-related sex crimes. As a paralegal, I assist three Deputy County Attorneys with 60 to approximately 90 sex crime cases. I receive, review, organize, log, and disclose evidence for the cases, including all body-worn cameras; assist with trial preparation; assist with scheduling and interviewing witnesses for hearings/trials; manage the electronic file for each case; and much more.

As for my other Criminal Justice System background since 2002, I started my career as a Criminal Courtroom Clerk and then became a Criminal Document Services Supervisor for the Criminal Filing Counter and Grand Jury and then a Criminal Courtroom Services Supervisor for the Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court. I was also a Legal Secretary/Paralegal with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. 

My experience with the Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court is 15+ years of felony case court hearings and criminal trials from possession of drugs to capital first-degree murder cases, and as a criminal exhibit expert for Courtroom Clerks.  As a With the Washington State Attorney General’s Office my experience is two years as a Legal Secretary and Paralegal for the Medicaid Fraud Bureau and the Social and Health Services Bureau, specifically juvenile dependency cases, providing legal support to attorneys and managing an average of 180+ cases; filing complaints on behalf of the State and child victim(s); drafting legal documents; and exhibit preparation for trials.

My training and education experience consists of a Courtroom Clerk trainer for trials, criminal exhibits, court hearings, processing confidential wiretaps, search warrants, writs of habeas corpus, and capital case hearings/trials as a Criminal Courtroom Clerk in leadership and supervisor role.  Also working with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office trial group, assisting with criminal exhibit training for attorneys.

I have been an instructor at Glendale Community College since 2018, Estrella Mountain Community College since 2019, and Phoenix College since 2022.  Currently, I teach AJS101 Introduction to Criminal Justice, AJS212 Juvenile Justice Procedures, AJS225 Criminology, and AJS230 The Police Function.