Ramona Brandes

Ramona Brandes (she/her) has been a public defender for 27 years in King and Kitsap counties, and presently serves on the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission. She has been the co-chair for the WDA/WACDL Legislative Committee since 2012 and was recognized by WDA in 2011, and by WACDL in 2005, 2014, and 2024 for her policy work and efforts to improve public defense statewide. In 2019 she received the WACDL President’s Award for her commitment to criminal defense, and her ongoing legislative work– including her seventeen-year effort to eliminate Robbery 2 from the three strikes list. In 2021, in a case of first impression, Ramona’s argument for contempt sanctions payable to her client for DSHS’s failure to transport for competency treatment was upheld on appeal, providing a new avenue for defenders to pressure the state to provide the mental health treatment our clients need.

You can reach Ramona by calling WDA or emailing ramona@defensenet.org.

WDA’s Misdemeanor Case Assistance Project: How it works

WDA can help with your public defense cases in a variety of ways:

• Helping spot issues that may benefit your clients at all stages of their cases;
• Shaping arguments for pre-trial motions and evidentiary issues that may arise during trial;
• Researching procedural issues;
• Brainstorming trial and sentencing strategies; and
• Providing sample motions, forms and practice advisories.

Members can also search our resource library for practice advisories and briefs related to misdemeanors.