JOSEPH T. RHEA

Joseph T. Rhea, J.D., Ph.D. (pronounced "Ray") is a criminal trial lawyer and was previously a Deputy Public Defender in Riverside County and Monterey County.

In Monterey County he won the "Pink Flamingo" award for best trial success.

In Riverside County, Dr. Rhea enjoyed the single largest run of dismissals and non-guilty verdicts of any Deputy Public Defender - a string of over 60 wins in 2005 alone.

Dr. Rhea holds a J.D. from the University of San Francisco. For all three years of law school, Dr. Rhea received the prestigious Dean's Scholarship. He won a university award for legal drafting and was a senior staff member on the U.S.F. Law Review. In 2002 he interned with the United States District Court in San Francisco.

Dr. Rhea is the only lawyer in California criminal practice to have been awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has taught at Harvard University, Williams College, Boston College, and Arizona State University.

He has guest lectured at over a half-dozen other universities including Princeton, Brown, and Tulane. He is author of a 1997 book about race relations in America, published by Harvard University Press.

Currently, Dr. Rhea represents accused individuals in state and federal court: at trial and on appeal.