Kristina Wildeveld, Esq.
Las Vegas Top Criminal Defense Attorney
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ristina Wildeveld is a criminal defense attorney and litigator specializing in heinous crimes, namely first-degree murder - Death Penalty Defense and postconviction matters. She is a top authority in sentencing commutations, representing clients in front of the Pardons board, and a renowned national expert in juvenile defense and criminal justice reform. In fact, she was the force behind AB267, a bill that ended life without the possibility of parole in the state of Nevada for persons under the age of 18 who were convicted as adults. Kristina is a Las Vegas native who graduated from Bishop Gorman High School. From there, she attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and graduated from the California Western School of Law in under 2 years. She went on to intern for Judge Philip Pro in federal court and continued to clerk for Judge Terrance Marren in family court, where she became exposed to the issues concerning abuse, neglect and juvenile delinquency. In 1997 she was recruited to join the newly formed office of the Special Public Defender under the direct supervision of, now Supreme Court Justice, Michael Cherry, handling only First-Degree Murder defense. She was the youngest Death-Penalty-Qualified attorney in the state of Nevada and she remains one of the few Supreme-Court-Rule-250-Death-Qualified attorneys in Las Vegas. It was here where she first began to form her niche of representing juveniles charged with the most serious of offences in both high-profile and high-impact cases. Indeed, because of her efforts, numerous antiquated laws concerning the justice system as it applies to juveniles were updated and progressively improved. Ms. Wildeveld has litigated, and often won, hundreds of serious cases in the past 21 years, many of which were widely reported in the news. Her reported victories include: a 14-year old boy accused of killing his abusive father (Conan Pope); a man facing the death penalty as the alleged shooter who was acquitted of the murder charges outright (Kenneth Counts);
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Kristina Wildeveld with Formerly Incarcerated Youth the father who, through her efforts, was finally allowed to be reunited with his own children after an acquittal on a murder case over the objection of the government (Victor Fakoya) are just the tip of her storied career. She is the most successful Pardons attorney in the state of Nevada, and is considered by her peers to be the foremost authority on child abuse, neglect matters and anything to do with the juvenile justice system. It’s not surprising that in 2001 she received national recognition by the American Bar Association as Juvenile Defender of the Year, and in June of 2016 she received the Defender of the Year award by the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice. Running a boutique law firm, Ms. Wildeveld keeps at a break-neck pace while maintaining the
respect and awe of her peers and judges alike. Her pro bono work is also well documented and with a big heart. Oscar Goodman said, “She’s doing the Lord’s work”, and as so she is known in many circles as the problem solver for unique cases, and gets referrals for people in need of assistance from all strata of our community up to and including our most distinguished public officials. She believes in effective counsel and one that is not afraid to stand for her clients’ rights, guilty or not. Likewise, she has taken up the cause of many inmates before the Pardons Board and is arguably the most successful attorney in the last few years with regard to the number and quality of pardons and commutations of sentences. MV