Biography
Abena Darkeh is a judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York. Currently, she presides over a misdemeanor trial part in Brooklyn.
Judge Darkeh began her career in public service as a prosecutor in the Kings County District Attorney’s office. While there, she developed an expertise in the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence offenses, which led to her appointment as Domestic Violence Coordinator/Court Attorney for the New York City Criminal Court. In this capacity, she designed and implemented strategies to improve the adjudication of domestic violence cases and conducted training programs for judges, court staff and stakeholders. She presented these strategies at national domestic violence symposia and at an international conference on women’s rights in Guyana. In 2005, Judge Darkeh was honored by Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes for her leadership in the field of domestic violence.
In 2003, Judge Darkeh was appointed assistant deputy counsel to the Chief of Policy and Planning for the New York State Court System. In this role, she helped to establish specialized domestic violence, mental health and sex offense courts across New York State. In 2011, Judge Darkeh received a gubernatorial appointment to serve as Deputy Commissioner for Regional Affairs at the New York State Division of Human Rights. There, she managed the agency’s 11 investigative offices, oversaw its federal programs and housing unit and successfully implemented a case management plan that eliminated the agency’s decades long case back log. In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed her to the criminal court bench.
Judge Darkeh is a member of the board of directors of Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert and the Judicial Friends Association and she serves on the Nominating Committee of the New York City Criminal Court Judges Association. She is a member of the National Association of Women Judges and the National Bar Association’s Judicial Council, as well as the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, the Kings County Bar Association, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. Judge Darkeh is a founding member of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers of America and served as its first Vice President. In 2018, she was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judge Darkeh received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law.