Nicole Valdes Hardin is an assistant federal defender in the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. She has authored and co-authored three publications attacking the science of cell phone tracking in criminal cases and has spoken nationwide on covert tracking and surveillance by law enforcement. Ms. Hardin is board certified in the area of criminal trial law. She serves on the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee of the Florida Bar and locally on the Bench Bar Committee of the Hillsborough County Bar Association. She earned her undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Florida and her Juris Doctorate at the City University of New York. While in state practice she qualified as second chair in death penalty cases and assisted in edits and revisions of the statewide training manual for public defenders.