Zainea, Leane, JD

Biography

Professor Zainea earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism, with cognate studies in Pre-Law and Psychology from Michigan State University. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Detroit School of Law, in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from law school, Leane worked as an assistant district attorney and then deputy district attorney in Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, and Waldo County for 20 years. Leane prosecuted numerous cases, including vehicular manslaughter, arson, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, domestic violence crimes and sexual assaults during her career in the District Attorney's Office.  In 2008, Prof. Zainea took a position as a homicide prosecutor with the State of Maine Attorney General's Office. Leane prosecuted over 70 homicide cases, including the murder of a law enforcement officer and the 1980 unsolved homicide of a teenager from East Millinocket, Maine. Leane has been licensed to practice law in Maine since 1988 and has served on the Judiciary's Evidence Committee and the State of Maine’s Child Death and Serious Bodily Injury Panel. Professor Zainea currently serves as a consultant to the Maine Criminal Rules Advisory Committee.      

“The role of an educator is not that far removed from being a prosecutor. As a prosecutor, it was my primary goal to educate law enforcement officers, juries and even the court on criminal law,  constitutional law and criminal procedure. Every time I appeared in court, I had to have a strong grasp of the law and be able to articulate what the applicable law was in an understandable and concise manner. My experience as a prosecutor will enable me to go beyond the text books and apply real circumstances and cases to the information contained in the text books. As an educator, I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with my students and hope to instill in them the same passion that I have for the legal profession.”