John Cotsirilos has been defending the criminally accused since 1976, and is now in private practice in San Diego, California. Mr. Cotsirilos worked in the Riverside Public Defender's Office from 1977-1979, and San Diego Defenders Inc., from 1979-1981. He has taught a seminar on the Death Penalty at the University of San Diego School of Law since 1994. He is a past president of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice; the recipient of the E. Stanley Conant award from the Defender Programs of San Diego for protecting the rights of the indigent accused in 1988 and 1998; and recipient of Trial Attorney of the year from the Criminal Defense Bar Association of San Diego in 1999 and 2006. Mr. Cotsirilos has litigated numerous capital cases, including People v. Lee Perry Farmer, who was exonerated from death row in California. Mr. Cotsirilos is listed in Best Lawyers in America since 1993; Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers; Super Lawyer, Southern California; Best Lawyers in San Diego; and Best Law Firms US News and World Report. Mr. Cotsirilos defends people before the State and Federal courts at trial, and post conviction; is the Criminal Law consultant for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego; and worked with the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program from 2002 through 2013.