3 assistant prosecuting attorneys appointed

Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Mackie has appointed three Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys to fill vacancies created earlier this year. Assistant Prosecutor Joanne E. Pray joined the Prosecutor's staff on August 25, 2014, and Assistant Prosecutors Yasmine K. Wint and Lou E. Danner began their Washtenaw County careers on September 22 and November 10, respectively. Pray, a native of Cheboygan, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Michigan State University's James Madison Residential College, having earned a bachelor of arts in International Relations. She earned her law degree from Wayne State University Law School, where she received honors as part of the school's Moot Court team. She began her legal career with the Southfield firm of Collins and Blaha. She was appointed as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Oakland County in 2004. During her 10 years of service to Oakland County, Pray gained wide prosecution experience, including assignments to that office's Juvenile Justice Division, Child Sexual Assault Unit, and most recently the General Circuit Court Unit where she tried both capital and non-capital felony cases. Wint was born in Jamaica, and graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida She attended Saint Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Fla., where she earned a bachelor of arts cum laude in Criminal Justice. She moved to Michigan to attend Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, receiving her law degree cum laude in 2012. During law school she served as the Senior Associate Editor of the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review, and on the editorial board for the Thomas M. Cooley Journal of Practical and Clinical Law, as well as a member of the school's moot court team. She also completed internships with the office of Washtenaw County Public Defender Lloyd Powell, and Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney Stuart Dunnings. Following law school she served as law clerk to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet, and most recently as Manager of Legal Services and Contract Administrator for Borgess Health of Kalamazoo. Danner, a Detroit native, graduated from Ypsilanti High School before attending Northwood University in Midland, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, and garnered honors in national mock trial competitions. Following college, he studied law at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, earning a law degree cum laude in 2013, and a Master of Law degree in 2014. He continued to participate in mock trial competitions, and again earned national honors. He also interned at the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan. Until joining Prosecutor Mackie's staff he had been working for Western Land Services of Ludington, Mich. Published: Thu, Nov 20, 2014