Deborah Barra has been a prosecutor in Orange and Osceola counties for over 16 years. Over the course of her career, she has completed more than 100 trials. Her trials have involved charges that ranged from misdemeanors to the death penalty. Deb has prosecuted nearly every type of offense, however, her passion has always been, and remains, the prosecution of sexual offenders and predators. To date, Deb has personally convicted 43 child molesters/rapists including three serial rapists. She was also able to obtain Florida’s first life sentence for a defendant charged with human trafficking.
In addition to her extensive trial work, Deb has held leadership/management positions under three elected State Attorneys, all of whom had vastly different leadership styles.
Her leadership roles include:
- Chief Assistant State Attorney (Ayala Administration)
- Trial Unit Director (Ashton Administration)
- Homicide prosecutor (Ashton Administration)
- Section Leader of the Special Victims Unit (Ashton Administration)
- Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit (Lamar Administration)
In her current role as Chief Assistant State Attorney, Deb supervises over 165 assistant state attorneys and manages the day to day operations of the office. Some of her job responsibilities include the hiring of assistant state attorneys, the implementation of policies, and the prosecution of cases.
In addition, she is responsible for reviewing all cases involving the use of deadly force used by members of law enforcement. As a result, Deb performed a 6-month review of the events that occurred during the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting. The results of her review led to all officers being cleared of any wrongdoing and the conclusion that no civilians were struck by bullets fired by police officers.
Deb has been selected as one of two prosecutors in the state of Florida to teach prosecutors how to best prosecute sex offenders. She has also been an instructor of various legal classes at the Police Academy for over 10 years.
Deb is a graduate of Dr. Phillips High School, Flagler College and the University of Florida College of Law.
High profile cases prosecuted by Deb include Darryl Patterson (Windermere rapist), Joel Pappas (Eastside rapist), Scott Batterson (Expressway Authority Board member), Aaron George (Human Trafficker) and Juan Rosario (Death Penalty case).