Michelle Behan is an Honorably Discharged Veteran from the United States Navy, where she served nearly ten years as a Cryptologist. After separating from the Navy, Ms. Behan spent five years as a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in both South Dakota and Arizona, where she investigated violent crimes on the Indian reservations, crimes against children, and national security crimes. Ms. Behan received national recognition from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for her work in a two-year international parental kidnapping case that involved the United States Marshals, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and multiple divisions of the FBI. Ms. Behan also received recognition from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota for her work on many interstate crimes involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Ms. Behan is a 2013 graduate of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. While in law school, Ms. Behan was an active participant in the Veteran’s Advocacy Clinic, where she acted as defense counsel for indigent Veterans charged with criminal misdemeanors. Ms. Behan’s zealous advocacy on behalf of Veterans led to her selection by the Law School Faculty to present an amicus curiae brief (on behalf of the defendant) to the Federal Court of Appeals for the U.S. Armed Forces, the highest military court in the country. Ms. Behan also received the prestigious Darrow K. Soll Award, which is given to the graduating student who most exhibits the tenacity and persistence in the area of criminal defense.
Following graduation, Ms. Behan worked as an Assistant Public Defender at the Tucson City Public Defender’s Office. She has tried several cases to juries, and argued numerous evidentiary and legal hearings involving a variety of different legal issues. For her efforts, Ms. Behan was awarded the 2015 Tucson Women’s Commission Rising Star Award. In 2015, Ms. Behan joined the Law Office of Nesci & St. Louis, where she was an associate attorney for more than two years. During that time, Ms. Behan successfully argued many Constitutional challenges in DUI cases, resulting in some or all of the evidence against her clients being suppressed. Ms. Behan was also successful in defeating multiple appellate challenges by the State of Arizona in an attempt to overturn some of those victories.
In 2017, Ms. Behan founded the law firm of The Behan Law Group, P.L.L.C., where she is the Owner.
Ms. Behan is a member of the National College for DUI Defense and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As a member of the National College for DUI Defense Amicus Curiae committee, Ms. Behan authored an amicus curiae brief to the Arizona Supreme Court in the matter of the State v. Valenzuela, which argued for a change in police procedures that the Supreme Court ultimately adopted. Ms. Behan is also the attorney of record for the defendant in the matter of State of Arizona v. Chopra, an appellate decision from the Division Two Court of Appeals in Tucson which was decided in favor of Mr. Chopra based on the pleadings.
Ms. Behan is also a member of the faculty of the National College for DUI Defense, and recently co-instructed courses on appellate writing and cross-examination at the nationally attended Summer Session held at Harvard Law School. Ms. Behan regularly instructs in central and southern Arizona on the topics of pre-trial motions practice, cross-examination, and impeachment techniques, including seminars at the Arizona Public Defender Annual Conference, the State Bar of Arizona DUI update, and the prestigious Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice Annual DUI conference held in Tucson, Arizona. Recently, Ms. Behan presented cross-examination and impeachment techniques to the Cook County Public Defender’s Office in Oak Brook, Illinois, and to the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys in Naperville, Illinois.
Most recently, Ms. Behan is proud to have been asked to serve the office of Arizona Senator Jeff Flake as part of a regional committee dedicated to veteran’s issues, where she will continue her efforts to make life better for American Veterans.
Published Decisions:
• State v. Chopra, 241 Ariz. 353, 387 P.3d 1282 (App. Div. 2, 2016)
• State v. Valenzuela, 239 Ariz. 299, 371 P.3d 627 (2016) (Amicus Curiae for NCDD)
