Meet the Instructor

Molly Gilbert

Senior Public Defense Investigator, King County Department of Public Defense

Molly Gilbert joined the King County Department of Public Defense as an investigator in 2015, shortly after obtaining her Certificate in Private Investigation from UW Professional & Continuing Education. Prior to her work in public defense, she served as a gunsmith in Iraq with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and she spent a decade providing security for local nightclubs and concert venues.

Gilbert has investigated countless criminal and civil cases and is dedicated to professionalizing and proving the importance of robust pre-trial investigations. A member of the Washington State Bar Association Council on Public Defense, she was instrumental in drafting the revised Standards of Indigent Defense, and defined the body of work for public defense investigators statewide. When Gilbert isn’t scrounging for intelligence data or irritating local records departments, she’s exploring the emerging ways in which technology intersects with criminal justice.