Maria Cruz is an incredibly bright and valuable addition to our office. As a daughter of a military family, she travelled the world before finally settling down in Tampa to attend the University of Tampa. While at the university, Maria obtained her degree in Criminology. Not only did she major in Criminology, she obtained two minors in both Law & Justice and Sociology. In keeping in line with our beliefs that no one knows better in defending the accused than from someone in the system, Maria was recruited from the Office of the State Attorney. She held several positions there, including the handling of evidence from preparations for filing motions and pleadings, the issuance of subpoenas and became a witness liaison. Maria Cruz is fluently in both Spanish and English and wears many hats in the office. Her job entails witness management, running the daily operations of the office, research, and dealing directly with the clerk and state attorneys office regarding documents and evidence. She also makes sure the attorneys know where they are supposed to be and when they are suppose to be there. She is usually the front line contact when people reach our office. She has the ability to answer their questions before they speak to one of the attorneys.