Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane announced that on June 7, 2024 Alisha Nakayama won the statewide Legal Assistant Gerda and Kurt Klein Guardian of Freedom Award at the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council’s Annual Legal Assistant Conference.

The Gerda and Kurt Klein Guardian of Freedom Award was established in 2018 as a tribute to Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein and her husband Kurt Klein

The Kleins dedicated their lives to lessons from the Holocaust. The Kleins believed that prosecution professionals are the living embodiment of the United States Constitution, and are “Guardians of Freedom” who act as the last line of defense for the rights of both victims and the accused. This prestigious award recognizes a legal assistant in an Arizona prosecution office who demonstrated exceptional professionalism in ethical decision-making in the pursuit of justice.

The award is bestowed on a legal professional who lives up to the Kleins’ ideals, and who makes the right decision- regardless of the effect to the outcome of a case.

Notably, this is not an annual award; rather, it is awarded as exceptional actions warrant.

County Attorney McGrane stated “I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Alisha. Alisha has been a rising star since she began working at my office, and previously won the statewide Legal Assistant of the Year award in 2019. I nominated Alisha for the Gerda and Kurt Klein Guardian of Freedom Award because of her work on a very important child sex-crimes case that might have fallen through the cracks after the untimely death of one of my prosecutors”

He added, “Despite a very heavy workload, Alisha was determined to see that justice prevailed in the case. Alisha largely drafted an appellate brief that led to an important state-wide ruling protecting crime victims from having their cases improperly dismissed by the courts. On behalf of the office, and victims statewide, I want to extend a well-deserved ‘Congratulations’ to Alisha.”

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