Ask a Mitigation Specialist – October 18, 2023

Dana Cook is the National Mitigation Coordinator for the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Projects. She works closely with the National Habeas Assistance and Training Project to develop death penalty training programs around the country. She also serves as a resource through case consultations, declarations and expert testimony in death penalty cases in federal court. She was the co-founder and co-director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR) from 2010-2020.

Shantel Rodriguez has been working in capital defense as a mitigation specialist since 2007.  After receiving her JD from the City University of New York, she moved to Houston and began her mitigation career as a staff mitigation specialist at the Gulf Region Advocacy Center.  She has been on teams for both federal and state pre- and post-conviction capital cases in Texas and Louisiana. At present, based in Lansing, Michigan, she is primarily involved with juvenile life without parole resentencings. Ms. Rodriguez is also a restorative justice practitioner, assisting with classes at the Ingham County Jail and as a facilitator with the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan.   She most recently worked with pretrial defendants at the Ingham County Court and is currently pursuing a Professional Certificate in Restorative Justice with Vermont Law School.