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Two former Marion County deputy prosecutors have received public reprimands from the state’s highest court for drunken
driving incidents.
The Indiana Supreme Court issued orders May 20 publicly reprimanding both Brooke N. Russell and Gillian S. DePrez, who had
worked in the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office until their resignations following drunken driving charges.
Russell pleaded guilty last year to Class A misdemeanor of operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent
or more, then enrolled and completed a 12-hour alcohol education program. She was admitted to the bar in October 2007 and
left the prosecutor’s office in January 2009. Russell is now working as a criminal defense attorney in Indianapolis.
This was Russell’s only disciplinary history and the public reprimand goes in her file for violating Indiana Professional
Conduct Rule 8.4(b), which prohibits attorneys from committing criminal acts that reflect adversely on the attorney’s
honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer. She must also pay the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.
DePrez, who began practicing in May 2007 and worked in the prosecutor’s office sex crimes division, was arrested in
July 2009 for drunk driving in Broad Ripple. She faced charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident,
but a special prosecutor from Monroe County allowed her to plead guilty and avoid that drunken driving conviction. She pleaded
guilty in November to reckless driving, and received 24 hours of community service and 90 days on nonreporting probation.
Spokeswoman Susan Decker with the prosecutor’s office wasn’t sure what DePrez has been doing since, but said
she is being re-hired for the same position she held before the drunken driving incident. DePrez restarts in the sex crimes
unit June 7, despite the public reprimand from the Indiana Supreme Court on Rule 8.4(b) and an order to pay for costs of the
disciplinary proceedings.
These aren’t the only drunken driving incidents the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has faced recently. The
most recent is spokesman and general counsel Mario V. Massillamany, who resigned in March after his arrest on a drunken driving
charge in Hamilton County. His driving privileges have been suspended and he faces one Class A misdemeanor charge of operating
while intoxicated in Hamilton Superior 6; a bench trial is set for July 2. The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission
has not yet filed any disciplinary actions against Massillamany, according to the online appellate docket.
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