Gilchrist and Smith Awards Presented to Susan Doyle, Joe Zeszotarski
Former recipients join this year’s honorees for group photo, front from left: Kimberly Overton Spahos, Joe Zeszotarski, Susan Doyle, and Joe Cheshire. Back from left: Bert Kemp, Colon Willoughby, Tommy Manning, Howard Cummings, Kearns Davis, and Andrew Gregson.
The NCBA Criminal Justice Section hosted the 18th Annual Gilchrist & Smith Awards Dinner on January 30 in Cary. The event featured presentation of the 2024 Peter S. Gilchrist III and Wade M. Smith Awards, which are named for their initial recipients and presented annually to a prosecutor (Gilchrist Award) and defense attorney (Smith Award).
The Peter S. Gilchrist III Award was presented to Johnston County District Attorney Susan Doyle. The Wade M. Smith Award was presented to Raleigh attorney Joe Zeszotarski of Gammon & Zeszotarski, PLLC.
Judge Tom Murry of the N.C. Court of Appeals, section chair, presided. Kimberly Spahos, director and chief resource prosecutor for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, presented the award citations. J.P. Davis, section vice chair, presented the invocation and Pastor Matthew Corbett of Princeton Church provided the blessing.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Thomas Lock presented the Gilchrist Award and Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman presented the Smith Award.
Biographical sketches of the honorees and excerpts from their acceptance remarks follow along with a listing of the prosecutors and defense attorneys who have received these awards since their inception in 2008.
Susan Doyle
Tom Murry presents the Peter S. Gilchrist III Award to Susan Doyle.
Susan Doyle is a career prosecutor who has devoted more than 30 years of service to the State of North Carolina as an assistant district attorney and district attorney. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Campbell Law School, she began her service as an assistant district attorney for Johnston, Harnett and Lee counties in 1994.
Doyle has served as district attorney for Prosecutorial District 13 (Johnston County) since 2007 and remains the only female attorney to serve the county in that capacity. She is a past president of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and former member of the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission.
Doyle received the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Prosecutor of the Year Award in 2009. Her office was recognized in 2017 and 2021 for its first-place efforts in the annual Walk Like MADD fundraiser to support victims of drunk driving.
“When Judge Murry called me back in December to tell me I was this year’s recipient of the Peter Gilchrist Award, I was shocked,” Doyle stated in her acceptance remarks. “I had no words, and I remember telling him during that phone conversation that I hoped I could find the words by January 30th to express my deep gratitude for receiving this award. So many of the past recipients of this award have been my mentors and my heroes, and I’ve called on so many of you so many times, and you were always there to support me, and I just cannot thank you enough.
“As I have struggled to find the words to say tonight, one thing became very clear: I have so many people to thank for me to be standing before you here tonight. So many people who supported me and walked with me through this journey as an assistant district attorney and the elected district attorney, you are the reasons why I am here, and you deserve all the credit.”
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In additions to colleagues, family, friends and her faith community, Doyle paid special tribute to “the woman who inspired me the most, my mother. When I told her I was getting this award, she was so happy, and she wanted so badly to be here. Many of you know this story, but I did want to share it with you tonight because it has been what has shaped me throughout my life.”
“My parents,” Doyle continued, “adopted me when I was six weeks old, and I knew my entire life that I was adopted, but I was never made to feel any different, never made to feel any different than my sister, who was my parents’ biological daughter.
“My mom always told me how much I was wanted. She actually painted this picture, and really had me think that my parents went to this orphanage, and there were hundreds of babies, and I was the one that she chose. Now, as I grew older, I realized that adoption really doesn’t work that way, but that is how loved she made me feel.”
Joe Zeszotarski
Tom Murry presents the Wade M. Smith Award to Joe Zeszotarski.
Joe Zeszotarski is a partner in Gammon & Zeszotarski, PLLC, where he represents individuals and businesses in a broad range of government investigations and criminal cases in North Carolina and across the country. He has over 25 years of experience in the federal and state courts.
Zeszotarski is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and Wake Forest University School of Law, cum laude and Wake Forest Law Review. He began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge William L. Osteen Sr. of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
A past chair of the NCBA Criminal Justice Section (2003-04), Zeszotarski was admitted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2017. He is also a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the N.C. Advocates for Justice, a past member of the Local Rules Umbrella Committee of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of N.C. and the CJA Appellate Panel Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and a current member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
“This award,” Zeszotarski began, “and these awards tonight, are really about lawyers and the work that we do. In the criminal justice system, I think the work that we do is the most important work that there is to be done. It’s interesting, at least in my experience in 30 years of doing this, that while this is the most important work that has to be done, the lawyers involved are some of the most interesting people you will ever meet. As I look around the room, I see people that I have worked on cases with as defense lawyers, I see law school classmates . . . I see mentors . . . I see all these people and I think about the relationships. While the work we do is very important and how it is done is very important, what’s equally important are the relationships that we gain through this work.
“I’m at the point in my life after doing this for more than 30 years, I work all day, I socialize with lawyers, I travel with lawyers; that’s who we’re with. And it has really been interesting because it’s who you want to be with. Lawyers involved in the criminal justice system simply are the best people around. And while I’m very grateful for this award – it’s a great honor – I’m more grateful for the relationships that I’ve created through 30 years of work. It’s really wonderful.”
Previous recipients of the Criminal Justice Section awards are:
Peter Gilchrist Award
2008 – Peter S. Gilchrist, III
2009 – Edward W. Grannis, Jr.
2010 – William D. Kenerly
2011 – C. Colon Willoughby, Jr.
2012 – Calvin W. Colyer
2013 – James J. Coman
2014 – Sandra J. Hairston
2015 – Barton M. Menser
2016 – Howard J. Cummings
2017 – W. Clark Everett
2018 – Howard P. Neumann
2019 – Kimberly Overton Spahos
2020 – David Saacks
2021 – Pansy Glanton
2022 – Andrew M. Gregson
2023 – Elizabeth Fay Dierauf
Wade Smith Award
2008 – Wade M. Smith
2009 – Locke T. Clifford
2010 – James P. Cooney, III
2011 – Joseph B. Cheshire, V
2012 – James E Ferguson, II
2013 – Frederick G. Lind
2014 – Mark W. Owens, Jr.
2015 – Thomas C. Manning
2016 – Sean P. Devereux
2017 – Michael A. Grace
2018 – Claire J. Rauscher
2019 – John P. (Jack) O’Hale
2020 – H. Gerald Beaver
2021 – David Freedman
2022 – Robert Carl (Bert) Kemp III
2023 – Kearns Davis
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.