Meet Melissa and Her Team

L. E. Hutton

Chief Assistant State Attorney

L. E. Hutton is a former Assistant State Attorney who returns to the State Attorney’s Office in a chief leadership role after a distinguished career in the private sector.

Hutton began his legal career in 1998 as an Assistant State Attorney and prosecuted homicides, white collar crimes, drug-related violations, and violent felonies. He was appointed to the Special Prosecution Unit and also was a member of the hiring committee during his initial tenure with the office.

In 2001, he joined the law firm of Willis, Ferebee & Hutton as a partner to continue his career in criminal law at the state and federal levels. During his almost 16 years with the firm, Hutton took on a variety of cases, including complex white-collar trials in federal court, state, and federal grand jury investigations, and capital murder cases.

His efforts outside of the office have included serving as a member of the Grievance Committee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and serving as chair of the City of Jacksonville’s Ethics Commission.

As Chief Assistant, Hutton supervises operations in all three counties.

He earned both his bachelor’s degree in political science and law degree from the University of Florida.

 

Stephen Siegel

First Assistant

Stephen Siegel 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 during his tenure with the office has served as a division chief in both Circuit Court and County Court.  He most recently served as senior division chief of the Nassau County office.

His career with the office also includes being named a division chief in the office’s 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 became board certified by the Florida Bar in Criminal Law. He was the second prosecutor in the Fourth Judicial Circuit to attain the distinction.

As First Assistant, Siegel is responsible for overseeing the legal division, business operations, IT,  human resources, and office administration.

He graduated from the Washington and Lee University School of Law, where he served as chairman of the Moot Court Board, and received a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Louisville.

 

Jackson Short

Chief Investigator

Jackson Short joined the State Attorney’s Office as Chief Investigator in Jan. 2023 following a successful career at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO). He began his law enforcement career in 1998 and served in a variety of leadership roles at JSO. 

Short most recently served as Director of Investigations and Homeland Security for JSO, where he was responsible for every major criminal investigation and critical incident in the City of Jacksonville. Short earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Florida and a master’s degree from the American Military University. He is also a graduate of both the FBI National Academy Class #272 and the Senior Management Institute for Police Class #81.

As Chief Investigator, Short is the office’s senior law enforcement liaison for the Fourth Judicial Circuit and oversees a team of talented investigators who are integral to the office’s mission.

 

Mark Caliel

Circuit Court Director

Mark Caliel is the Director of Circuit Court, also known as the felony division. Caliel is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he received 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 of 1997, Caliel has been an Assistant State Attorney in Jacksonville. During his tenure with the State Attorney’s Office, Caliel has been lead counsel in more than 100 jury trials and specializes in homicide and violent crime prosecution. Caliel has received numerous honors, including the State Attorney 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 been a member of the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee and served as chair of the committee in 2012-13. He also lectures on criminal trial practice at law schools and continuing legal education programs.

 

Khary Gaynor

Special Victims Unit Deputy Director

Khary Gaynor is the Deputy Director of the Special Victims Unit. Gaynor is a double Gator graduating from the University of Florida with dual 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 in 2001 and has prosecuted cases in the Special Assault, Jimmy Ryce, Repeat Offender Court (SAD), and Homicide/Gun divisions, and began as a supervisor 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 in 2018 as a supervisor in Circuit Court and then moved back to the Special Victims Unit as a supervisor in 2019.  Gaynor 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

Clay County Director

Pam Hazel is the Clay County Director, supervising the office of the 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. While in law school, Pam was awarded three Book Awards and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Hazel interned for Florida Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead.

She has been with the State Attorney’s Office since her admission to the Florida Bar in 2001. In 2008, she was promoted to Division Chief. 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 was also named the lead prosecutor for the State Attorney’s Office Opioid Task Force in 2017. She serves as a member of the hiring committee for the office, is the liaison for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Police Department and is on the Board of Directors for Operation New Hope. Hazel received the State Attorney Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2017.

 

Octavius Holliday

Special Prosecution Deputy Director

Octavius Holliday is the Deputy Director of the Special Prosecution Division. Holliday attended Duke University on a full football scholarship and graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He joined the State Attorney’s Office in March 2003, then in 2012 left to form his own firm, specializing in criminal defense. Holliday returned to the State Attorney’s Office in 2017 to lead the newly formed Human Rights Division — the first of its kind in Florida for a prosecutor’s office.

Holliday 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 SAO on the newly formed Elder Abuse Fatality Review Board, and trains law enforcement officers in Northeast Florida 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.

Holliday is a former 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. 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 and the 2018 Omega Psi Phi “Omega Man of the Year.”

 

Chris Huband

Nassau County Deputy Director

Chris Huband is the Deputy Director of the Nassau County State Attorney’s Office. He was born and raised in Jacksonville, a 2010 graduate of the University of North Florida. In 2013, Chris graduated cum laude from Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and earned an Advanced Research and Writing Certificate. At Florida Coastal, Chris earned several book awards for obtaining the highest grade in a course and received the Dean’s Merit Scholarship for academic achievement after his first year. Chris began working with the Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office as an undergraduate intern in 2009.

Chris then began his career as a prosecutor with the Fourth Circuit State Attorney’s Office in August 2013. Since that time, Chris has received recognition for his work with the 2014 Rookie of the Year award and the State Attorney Award in 2017. After working on the Circuit Line, Chris worked in Repeat Offender Court (ROC) and Homicide Major Crimes, trying 17 cases in 2016. Before serving in the Nassau County office, Chris was assigned to the Targeted Prosecution unit since its inception in January 2017, where he served as a Division Chief and maintained duties on the homicide rotation.

 

John Kalinowski

County Court Director

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 — he graduated from the University of Florida with dual 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 Assault Division, Major Crimes Unit, and Homicide Division, and also has 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. He received the 2018 Prosecutor Award of Excellence from MADD Northeast Florida as well as the 2020 State Attorney Award.

 

Joe Licandro

Special Prosecution Deputy Director

Joe Licandro has served as an Assistant State Attorney with the Fourth Judicial Circuit for over a decade. He is currently the Deputy 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 is also the lead prosecutor for the State Attorney’s Office Narcotics Homicide Overdose Team.

Licandro has been a member of the State Attorney’s Office homicide unit for three years and has served on the Officer-Involved Critical Incident Team since 2019. He is also a standing member of the Fourth Judicial Circuit’s Brady/Giglio team. During his tenure at the State Attorney’s Office, he has tried 66 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 Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2007.

 

Sheila Loizos

Legal Division Director

Sheila Loizos is the Director of the Legal Division and oversees Baker Acts, Extraditions, Forfeitures, Juvenile Resentencing Hearings, Post-Conviction, and Public Records. Loizos graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1989.

Loizos 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 over 25 years. Loizos has had the privilege of serving under four state attorneys.  Loizos is admitted to practice before the Florida, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland Bars as well as the Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. Loizos is Board Certified in Criminal Trials 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 current member and secretary for the Committee of the Rules of Criminal Procedure. Loizos received the State Attorney Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and the Office’s “Unsung Hero” Award in 2021.

 

Alan Mizrahi

Homicide Division Director

Alan Mizrahi is a Director of the Homicide Division. He 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.

Mizrahi first started with the State Attorney’s Office in 1997 and left briefly to join the general litigation firm of Milton Leach in Jacksonville. Mizrahi returned to the State Attorney’s Office in 2004 and became a Division Chief in 2005. In 2007, he was named the Special Assault Unit’s Division Chief and became the Division’s Director in 2010. Mizrahi has prosecuted homicide cases since 2000. Mizrahi received the State Attorney Office’s Distinguished Service Award in 2012 and the Judicial Victim Advocate Award in 2009.

 

Adair Newman

Juvenile and Special Victims Unit Director

Adair Newman is the Director of the Special Victims as well as the Juvenile divisions. Newman graduated cum laude from Providence College in Rhode Island. She attended law school at Florida State University, also graduating cum laude. At FSU Law, she participated in an externship with the Children’s Advocacy Clinic and volunteered with the Guardian Ad Litem program.

She began her career at the State Attorney’s Office in 2001 and served as a Division Chief until 2009. Newman spent time in private practice, during which time she obtained Board Certification in Criminal Trial. Since returning to the State Attorney’s Office in 2013, she has concentrated on special assault cases as the SVU director. She 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.

 

Lisa Page

Recruitment and Community Development Director

Lisa Page is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida who arrives at the State Attorney’s Office with a legal background and extensive community involvement and volunteerism.

Her legal career includes her time in the United States Attorney’s Office as well as with the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, and federal clerkship with the Honorable Ursula Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida.

Page has an extensive history of community involvement with organizations such as The Women’s Board of Wolfson Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Giving Alliance, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, and other local nonprofits.

She draws from both backgrounds as director of the Attorney and Community Development Division, where she leads the office’s efforts in attorney recruitment, training, and diversity, along with a focus on engaging the office with the community and exploring potential partnerships and grants.

Page earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and graduated Phi Beta Kappa before earning her law degree from New York University School of Law.

 

Dan Skinner

Homicide Division Director

Dan Skinner is a Director of the Homicide Division. Skinner graduated from the University of North Florida, where he received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Following graduation, he attended law school at Regent University in Chesapeake, Virginia, and received his law degree in December of 1996.

Since March of 1997, Skinner has been 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 Assault Division. Skinner has distinguished himself throughout his career and received numerous honors, including the State Attorney’s Office Rookie of the Year Award in 1998 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2009.

Prosecutor Demographics

The State Attorney’s Office is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in employment or the provision of services. State Attorney Melissa Nelson is dedicated to the proactive recruitment of talented and passionate attorneys. We take great pride in the hiring practices of this office, seeking diversity and quality in each hiring opportunity.

The numbers below represent information about Assistant State Attorneys from Clay, Duval, and Nassau counties. This information reflects staffing through Dec. 1 and will be updated annually.