Appellate Defender Commission Selects Steven Helton and Rachel Wolfe for 2022 Appellate Advocacy Awards

The awards will be presented at the Appellate Defender Commission meeting on June 21, 2023.
The Michigan Appellate Defender Commission has unanimously voted to honor SADO Assistant Defender Steven Helton with the 2022 Norris Thomas Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy, and MAACS roster attorney Rachel Wolfe with the 2022 Barbara R. Levine Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy. The awards will be presented at the Commission’s June 21, 2023 meeting. 

2022 Norris Thomas Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy

At its March 15, 2023 meeting, the Appellate Defender Commission voted to award SADO Assistant Defender Steven Helton with the 2022 Norris Thomas Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy, 

Steven graduated from Wayne State Law School in 2013 and was on the MAACS roster before joining SADO in 2018. He is a talented and creative attorney who works tirelessly for his clients, an excellent researcher and writer, and a generous and caring colleague. Steven has also trained defense attorneys throughout the state on issues such as other acts evidence, improper expert testimony, and recent state and federal Supreme Court decisions.

In addition to numerous victories in the trial courts and Court of Appeals, Steven has been involved in some of the most significant and complex Michigan Supreme Court cases in the last few years. In October 2021, he argued on behalf of his client, Robert Propp. At issue was the proper application of People v Kennedy, 502 Mich 2016 (2018) (addressing the requirements for an indigent defendant’s entitlement to expert assistance) and the application of the hearsay rules of evidence to other acts testimony under MCL 768.27b. Earlier this year, Steven was awarded the WMU Cooley Distinguished Brief Award for his brief in People v Propp. 

Additionally, Steven, along with co-counsel Jacqueline McCann, represented Donald Davis and argued on his behalf in November 2021. In Davis, the Court concluded that the deprivation of Mr. Davis’s public trial right was a structural error that necessarily affected his substantial rights and satisfied the plain error standard’s requirements for reversal. Significantly, the Court also held that the existence of a forfeited structural error alone satisfies that third prong of the plain-error standard and creates a formal rebuttable presumption that the fourth prong is satisfied as well. More recently, Steven returned to the Michigan Supreme Court to advocate on behalf of his clients, Anthony Veach and Lashawn Monroe.

Steven’s colleagues nominated him for this award. One colleague wrote, “I love working with Steven Helton. He is creative and incredibly generous with his time to colleagues and clients . . . He teed up several monumental cases for Michigan Supreme Court litigation including his brief of the year. I can’t say enough great things about him and the quality of his work.” Another colleague wrote, “[Steven] is always on the cutting edge of new and up-and-coming legal issues in our office. He is also one of the most helpful coworkers – always able to send a case, help with editing, or talk through an issue.” Congratulations, Steven!

2022 Barbara R. Levine Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy

The Appellate Defender Commission also voted at its March meeting to award MAACS roster attorney Rachel Wolfe with the 2022 Barbara R. Levine Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy. Named for the architect and first Administrator of MAACS, the award is presented annually to a roster attorney who demonstrates extraordinary commitment on behalf of appellate assigned clients and the criminal justice system. 

Rachel graduated from Michigan State University College of Law in 2014. After law school, she spent two years as a research attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals, followed by a year as judicial law clerk on the same court. Rachel then began practicing law, first at Flood Law PLLC, and then opening her own firm. She joined the MAACS roster in 2020.

Rachel is a committed MAACS roster attorney who firmly believes that success begins with and depends on a strong attorney-client relationship. She gets to know all of her clients immediately—even before having her hands on the lower court record—so she can understand what matters to them, and what they hope to accomplish with their appeals. She meets regularly with her clients throughout the representation, explains her legal strategies, and makes sure her clients fully understand and take ownership of the important decisions. 

Rachel also takes difficult assignments, including a substantial number of postconviction motions for relief from judgment, which can be especially challenging, time consuming, and difficult to assign. Rachel finds these cases professionally and personally satisfying—and has found meaningful success litigating them.

Although Rachel has only been a MAACS roster attorney for a short time, her hard work and client-centered approach have paid off. She has won new trials, secured the release of postconviction clients many years after their convictions, and argued significant cases at the Michigan Supreme Court. She has developed an outstanding reputation for herself while helping raise the bar at MAACS and ensure that all indigent individuals receive high quality appellate representation. Congratulations, Rachel!