Enrique Pineda awarded prestigious, paid fellowship in Washington DC

Enrique Pineda was awarded the prestigious Archer Fellowship which he completed this summer in Washington DC. Pineda was one of just 17 students accepted for this fellowship, among 530 applicants (a narrow 3% acceptance rate!). The DC Public Defenders office is recognized as one of the best in the nation and has a history of pioneering indigent representation, stemming from the Legal Aid Agency established in 1960. Notable alumni of the internship include: Tanya Chutkan (presiding judge over Trump's criminal trial), Jonathan Rapping (founder of Gideon's Promise), and Alec Karakatsanis (founder of Equal Justice Under Law), as well as several Stanford, Yale, and Harvard law professors.

As an intern, Pineda was involved in reporting on gaps in FBI investigations, interviewing witnesses, canvassing crime scenes, digesting discovery packets, tracking down decades’ worth of records, and visiting clients in jail. His work this summer achieved two case dismissals and one not guilty verdict.

This opportunity has opened doors for Pineda here in El Paso, where he was able to secure a second internship with a local Public Defender’s office. He will work as an intern this fall as he prepares his application to law school.