Stefanie DeNise
Biography
Adjunct Professor Stefanie DeNise is a practicing criminal defense attorney and currently serves as a Special District Attorney for Westchester County.
Prior to this, she was the Principal Law Clerk to a New York State Supreme Court Justice in Westchester County, where she was responsible for conducting comprehensive legal research, drafting judicial opinions, decisions, and orders, and analyzing complex legal issues presented to the Court. Professor DeNise also coordinated and supervised the Summer Judicial Internship Program for the Ninth Judicial District and served as Editor-in-Chief of Ninthline, the Court’s electronic newsletter, overseeing its content and publication.
Professor DeNise previously spent 13 years as an Assistant District Attorney at the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted hundreds of criminal matters from intake to disposition and sentence. She conducted felony and misdemeanor jury and bench trials, presented cases to the Grand Jury, and argued pre-trial hearings. She authored dozens of search warrants and wrote wiretap applications for a narcotics investigation resulting in the indictment of 18 individuals. Her work in the Investigations Division earned her recognition for handling sophisticated fraud and identity theft cases, including business email compromises, IRS and bail scams, wire transfer fraud, and large-scale identity theft operations. Her cases garnered significant media attention, and she was interviewed by ABC, NBC, News 12 Westchester, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Automotive News.
Professor DeNise trained law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and professionals in the banking, retail, and automotive industries on the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, identity theft, and fraud. She was a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators, the New York External Fraud Committee, and the District Attorney’s Offices’ Identity Theft Consortium.
While at the DA’s Office, Professor DeNise supervised interns, mentored new assistants on legal issues and trial practice, and coached a mock trial team.
Professor DeNise has always had a passion for teaching, and she became an adjunct professor at Berkeley College in 2018. During her 4 years there, she taught Criminal Law, Introduction to Justice Studies, Homeland Security, White Collar Crime, and Communication Skills for the Criminal Justice Professional.
Her early legal experience includes internships with the FBI, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and a prominent criminal defense attorney in New York.
With a background in journalism and a degree in the field, Professor DeNise is also a published writer, having contributed articles to the Miami Herald.
Education
- BS, University of Miami, Cum Laude
- JD, St. Thomas University School of Law, Magna Cum Laude