Meet State Attorney Melissa W. Nelson

Jay Plotkin is the First Assistant overseeing all courtroom, attorney, and investigative functions, including County Court, Circuit Court, and specialty divisions. This includes oversight of Clay and Nassau counties.

Jay Plotkin is the First Assistant overseeing all courtroom, attorney, and investigative functions, including County Court, Circuit Court, and specialty divisions. This includes oversight of Clay and Nassau counties.

Plotkin is a graduate of the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law and initially joined the State Attorney’s Office in 1987. Plotkin has familiarity with the role — he served as chief assistant from 1999-2009 before he departed for private practice. A former Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association “Prosecutor of the Year” in 1996, Plotkin rejoined the office in 2023 and has worked closely with prosecutors in the Homicide Unit before being promoted to First Assistant.

Steve Siegel is the office's Executive Director, overseeing the business office, budget, human resources, public records, trial support services, office litigation, and staff operations. 

Steve Siegel is the office's Executive Director, overseeing the business office, budget, human resources, public records, trial support services, office litigation, and staff operations. 

Siegel graduated from the Washington and Lee University School of Law, where he served as chairman of the Moot Court Board. He has spent his legal career serving the people of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in a variety of roles before being named First Assistant in January 2017. Siegel began his career with the State of Florida as a Judicial Staff Attorney.  He joined the State Attorney’s Office in 1995 and has served as a division chief in both Circuit and County Court as well as in the Nassau County office. His career with the office also includes division chief in the Special Prosecution Division, where he initiated complex investigations and prosecutions of white-collar and economic crimes, fraud, arson, environmental crimes, and public corruption cases. In 2004, Siegel achieved board certification by the Florida Bar in Criminal Trial Law, becoming only the second prosecutor in the Fourth Judicial Circuit to attain the distinction. Siegel was awarded the State Attorney’s Office’s Rookie of the Year Award in 1996 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2022.

Adair Newman is a Chief Assistant State Attorney overseeing the Special Victims Unit, County Court, Traffic Homicides, Juvenile, and the Circuit’s Nassau County office. 

Adair Newman is a Chief Assistant State Attorney overseeing the Special Victims Unit, County Court, Traffic Homicides, Juvenile, and the Circuit’s Nassau County office. 

Newman graduated cum laude from Providence College in Rhode Island. She attended law school at Florida State University, also graduating cum laude. She began her career at the State Attorney’s Office in 2001 and served as a Division Chief until 2009, when she went into private practice. Newman is board-certified in Criminal Trial Law. Since returning to the State Attorney’s Office in 2013, she has concentrated on special assault cases. She served as Director of the Special Victims Unit and the Juvenile Division. Newman has prosecuted a wide range of cases, including sexual assaults, homicides, and violent crimes. She was recognized with the office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2019. 

Mark Caliel is a Chief Assistant State Attorney overseeing the Homicide, Targeted Prosecution, Circuit Court divisions, Smart Justice initiatives, and the Circuit's Clay County office. Caliel is a leader of the office’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident team. 

Mark Caliel is a Chief Assistant State Attorney overseeing the Homicide, Targeted Prosecution, Circuit Court divisions, Smart Justice initiatives, and the Circuit's Clay County office. Caliel is a leader of the office’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident team. 

Caliel graduated from the University of Arizona, receiving his bachelor’s degree in public administration, specializing in criminal justice. Following graduation, he attended law school at Florida State University and received his law degree in December 1996. Since March 1997, Caliel has been an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville. During his tenure, Caliel has tried more than 100 jury trials specializing in homicide and violent crime prosecution. He was awarded the State Attorney’s Office’s Rookie of the Year Award in 1998, the Distinguished Service Award in 2007, and the Mayor’s Judicial Victim Advocate Award in 2012. Additionally, Caliel has served as a member of the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee and chaired the committee in 2012-13. He also lectures on criminal trial practice for law schools and continuing legal education programs.  

Khary Gaynor is Director of the Special Victims Unit, prosecuting crimes against the most vulnerable victims.

Khary Gaynor is Director of the Special Victims Unit, prosecuting crimes against the most vulnerable victims.

Gaynor is a double Gator, graduating from the University of Florida with degrees in psychology and criminal justice in 1998 and the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2001. He joined the State Attorney’s Office after graduation and has prosecuted cases in the Special Assault, Jimmy Ryce, Repeat Offender Court, and Homicide/Gun divisions, and as a division chief in Duval’s Circuit Court. For five years, Gaynor supervised in Clay County, managing the Juvenile Division, County Court, Circuit Court, and the Special Victims Unit. Gaynor returned to Duval County in 2018 as a supervisor in Circuit Court and then moved back to the Special Victims Unit as a supervisor in 2019.  He launched the Special Victims Unit training program for SVU attorneys, consults regularly with JSO’s Special Assault Unit detectives and supervisors, is the primary office liaison for JSO’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit, and has co-chaired the annual Domestic Violence Fatality Review committee. 

Pam Hazel is the Director of the Clay County office, supervising the office in the Fourth Circuit’s second-most populous county.  

Pam Hazel is the Director of the Clay County office, supervising the office in the Fourth Circuit’s second-most populous county.  

Hazel graduated summa cum laude from Troy State University in 1998. She graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University College of Law in 2001 and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She has been with the State Attorney’s Office since her admission to the Florida Bar in 2001. Hazel has prosecuted a wide range of cases including death penalty cases, sexual assaults, and violent crimes. She has tried more than 25 homicide cases to verdict. Hazel received the State Attorney's Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2017. 

Octavius Holliday is a Director of the Special Prosecution Division. He also leads the Human Rights Division — the first of its kind in Florida for a prosecutor’s office — which focuses on elder abuse, hate crimes, and excessive force cases. 

Octavius Holliday is a Director of the Special Prosecution Division. He also leads the Human Rights Division — the first of its kind in Florida for a prosecutor’s office — which focuses on elder abuse, hate crimes, and excessive force cases. 

Holliday attended Duke University on a football scholarship and graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He joined the State Attorney’s Office after graduation in March 2003, then in 2012 left to form his own firm, specializing in criminal defense. Holliday returned in 2017 to lead the office’s newly formed Human Rights Division. He is nationally recognized as an authority on the subject of elder abuse and has trained judges and prosecutors throughout the country as a member of the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life training team. He also represents the office on the newly formed Elder Abuse Fatality Review Board and trains Northeast Florida law enforcement officers on elder abuse investigations. Within the office, Holliday is a member of the Grand Jury Review Panel, the Officer-Involved Critical Incident Review, and the Hiring Committee. He was awarded the office’s 2021 Leadership Award. He is a past president of the D.W. Perkins Bar Association, a member of the Jacksonville Bar Association’s Elder Law and Diversity committees, and a member of the 2017 class of Leadership Jacksonville. Additionally, he is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Urban League Guild, and the University of Florida Black Alumni Association. For his civic and mentorship work, Holliday was awarded the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville “Member of the Year” in 2011, the 2018 Omega Psi Phi “Omega Man of the Year,” and the Florida Bar’s 2024 Claude Pepper Outstanding Government Lawyer Award.  

Chris Huband is the Director of Circuit Court, supervising the office’s largest division of attorneys prosecuting felonies, and is a leader of the office’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident team. 

Chris Huband is the Director of Circuit Court, supervising the office’s largest division of attorneys prosecuting felonies, and is a leader of the office’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident team. 

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Huband is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Florida. In 2013, he graduated cum laude from Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was a member of Law Review and received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship for academic achievement. Huband began working as an undergraduate intern at the State Attorney’s Office in 2009. After law school graduation, Huband joined the office as a prosecutor. He worked in Repeat Offender Court and Homicide Major Crimes, trying 17 cases in 2016. Huband was part of the Targeted Prosecution Unit since its inception in January 2017, serving as a Division Chief and maintaining duties on the homicide rotation. Before being named Circuit Court Director, Huband was the Deputy Director of the Nassau County office. He was chosen as the office’s 2014 Rookie of the Year and awarded the State Attorney Award in 2017. 

John Kalinowski is the Director of County Court and is the only Traffic Homicide Attorney in Duval County, a role in which he consults with law enforcement across Northeast Florida and South Georgia.  

John Kalinowski is the Director of County Court and is the only Traffic Homicide Attorney in Duval County, a role in which he consults with law enforcement across Northeast Florida and South Georgia.  

Kalinowski is a double Gator, having graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in political science and theatre in 1998 and the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2001. He joined the State Attorney’s Office in 2001 and has prosecuted cases in the Special Victim’s Unit, Major Crimes Unit, and Homicide Division, and has also been a supervisor in both County and Circuit Court. For more than two years, he was a supervisor in the Nassau County office. Kalinowski authored the 400+ page new attorney orientation manual, provides ongoing training and mentorship to new attorneys, and frequently trains local and statewide law enforcement relating to DUI laws. He received the 2018 Prosecutor Award of Excellence from MADD Northeast Florida as well as the 2020 State Attorney Award. 

Joe Licandro is a Director of the Special Prosecution Division, where he supervises a team of attorneys who handle a multitude of complex fraud and proactive narcotics investigations.  

Joe Licandro is a Director of the Special Prosecution Division, where he supervises a team of attorneys who handle a multitude of complex fraud and proactive narcotics investigations.  

Licandro has served as an Assistant State Attorney with the Fourth Judicial Circuit for over a decade. He is a member of the State Attorney’s Office homicide rotation and serves on the Officer-Involved Critical Incident Team. He is a standing member of the Fourth Circuit’s Brady/Giglio team and is the lead prosecutor for the office’s Narcotics Homicide Overdose Team. He has tried more than 60 jury trials, ranging from narcotics trafficking to fraud to homicide. Licandro earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame in 2004 and his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2007. 

Sheila Loizos is the office’s General Counsel and manages the Legal Division. She oversees Baker Acts, Extraditions, Forfeitures, Juvenile Resentencing Hearings, and Post-Conviction motions.  

Sheila Loizos is the office’s General Counsel and manages the Legal Division. She oversees Baker Acts, Extraditions, Forfeitures, Juvenile Resentencing Hearings, and Post-Conviction motions.  

Loizos graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1989 and joined the State Attorney’s Office that same year. Although she had a break in service and practiced civil law in Washington, D.C., she has been a prosecutor for more than 25 years. She has had the privilege of serving under four state attorneys. Loizos is board-certified in Criminal Trial Law and Criminal Appeals and was selected to be on the Grade Review Panel for the Criminal Appellate Certification Exam. She is a former member of the Florida Bar’s Committee of Criminal Rules and Evidence Code and is a member and secretary of the Rules of Criminal Procedure Committee. Loizos received the State Attorney’s Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and the Office’s “Unsung Hero” Award in 2021. 

Tom Mangan is the Deputy Director of the Nassau County office.  

Tom Mangan is the Deputy Director of the Nassau County office.  

Mangan is a Florida native who received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Central Florida in 2008. He then attended Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was a member of the mock trial team and an editor for the Public Interest Research Bureau. Mangan began his career with the State Attorney’s Office in 2013. Since then, he has been a division chief in County Court, Circuit Court, and most recently in Proactive Targeted Prosecution. He has been a member of the Homicide Unit since 2017. Mangan received the office’s Significant Achievement Award in 2017 and the State Attorney Award in 2022. 

Alan Mizrahi is a Director of the Homicide Division, leading more than a dozen Assistant State Attorneys who handle homicides.  

Alan Mizrahi is a Director of the Homicide Division, leading more than a dozen Assistant State Attorneys who handle homicides.  

Mizrahi graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in psychology before earning his law degree, with honors, from the University of Miami. He started with the State Attorney’s Office in 1997 and left briefly to do civil litigation. He then returned to the State Attorney’s Office in 2004 and became a division chief in 2005. In 2007, he was named a division chief in the Special Assault Unit and became its director in 2010. Mizrahi has prosecuted homicide cases since 2000. He received the State Attorney’s Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2012 and the Judicial Victim Advocate Award in 2009. 

Lisa Page is the Chief of Staff, leading the office’s efforts in attorney recruitment, training, communications, grants, policy initiatives, and community engagement.  

Lisa Page is the Chief of Staff, leading the office’s efforts in attorney recruitment, training, communications, grants, policy initiatives, and community engagement.  

Page joined the State Attorney’s Office in 2017. She is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida who arrived at the State Attorney’s Office with extensive community involvement and volunteerism. Her legal career includes her time as an Assistant United States Attorney in Jacksonville, the national law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery in Miami, and a federal clerkship for the Honorable Ursula Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida. Page graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Florida before earning her law degree from New York University School of Law. She is also a member of the Officer-Involved Critical Incident team. 

Dan Skinner is a Director of the Homicide Division, leading more than a dozen Assistant State Attorneys who handle homicides.  

Dan Skinner is a Director of the Homicide Division, leading more than a dozen Assistant State Attorneys who handle homicides.  

Skinner graduated from the University of North Florida with his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. He attended law school at Regent University, graduating in 1996. Since March 1997, Skinner has served as an Assistant State Attorney.  During his tenure with the office, he has served as a director in multiple areas, including the Clay County office, Repeat Offender Court, Special Prosecution Unit, and the Special Victims Unit. Skinner received the State Attorney’s Office Rookie of the Year Award in 1998 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2009. 

Ashley Terry is the Deputy Director of the Clay County Office, the Fourth Circuit’s second-most populous county.  

Ashley Terry is the Deputy Director of the Clay County Office, the Fourth Circuit’s second-most populous county.  

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Terry attended the University of North Florida, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with minors in criminal justice and history. After graduation, she attended Florida State University’s College of Law, where she interned in the Florida House of Representatives and as staff for Florida’s Senate Committee on Regulated Industries. During her summers, she interned with our office. Upon graduation in 2011, she became an Assistant State Attorney and has been serving the citizens of the Fourth Judicial Circuit since. Terry has worked in divisions including County and Circuit Court, Repeat Offender Court, the Special Victims Unit, as a member of the Homicide Unit, and as a Felony Division Chief. 

Shelley Thibodeau is the Director of the Conviction Integrity Review. 

Shelley Thibodeau is the Director of the Conviction Integrity Review. 

Thibodeau joined the State Attorney’s Office in January 2018 to lead the newly created Conviction Integrity Review — the first in Florida. Before joining the State Attorney’s Office, Thibodeau was in private practice primarily representing criminal defendants in State and Federal Court, and at the appellate level, for more than 20 years. Thibodeau received her law degree from Florida State University College of Law in 1995, and her Bachelor of Arts in communications from Florida State University in 1991.   

Robin Waters is the Director of Investigations, overseeing the office’s investigative staff. 

Robin Waters is the Director of Investigations, overseeing the office’s investigative staff. 

Waters began her career in law enforcement in 1993 at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. In 1997, she joined the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, where she spent the next 20 years assigned to numerous divisions, including Integrity, Gun Crimes Investigations, Organized Crime Narcotics Unit, and Investigations. She was also assigned to the Prosecution Liaison Unit with the State Attorney’s Office from 2003 to 2012. Waters joined the State Attorney’s Office as an investigator in 2019 and has been assigned to Circuit Court, Juvenile, and most recently the Special Victims Unit.