Categories for Criminal Defense

I definitely see an effect.  To a large degree, prosecutors have turned on the police now as well. Almost every day, I’m getting notices in the mail of police officers who have been convicted of California crimes and the prosecutors are turning that over. Further, there are also situations where police officers who have been accused of a misdemeanor or felony crime or there’s been allegations that have been substantiated… Continure reading

As many of you may not know, the Hedding Law Firm has been around since the 1970s when my father first started practicing. I later came along and I’ve been practicing now for the past 27 years.  I think the secret sauce is not only experience, but a well-rounded complete package-type experience. In other words, I started first with the District Attorney’s office in the early 1990s.  At that time,… Continure reading

How Will the Van Nuys District Attorney’s Office Implement the New Los Angeles District Attorney’s Policies? Right now, across Los Angeles county as the new year approaches, the new head Deputy District Attorney George Gascon has imposed a number of new crucial policies and there are prosecutors who are angry about it. LA county has one of the biggest prosecution agencies in the world.  There are over 1,200 prosecutors and… Continure reading

Right now, because of the Coronavirus, the Supreme Court Justice of the California Supreme Court has ruled that all bail in Los Angeles county is zero.  There are some exceptions to this rule related to more serious cases like murder, sex crime cases, people who have strikes on their record. But for the most part, you’re in a pretty good position as far as bail goes in the San Fernando Valley… Continure reading

If You Have a Criminal Case Pending in one of the San Fernando Valley Courts do you Have to Appear in Court and Disobey the Governor’s Order Regarding the Corona Virus? This is a good question because the Governor’s order right now as I put this content in the website says that nobody can leave except for essential things.  So, the bottom line is, the San Fernando Valley courthouses — if you… Continure reading

If You Have a Case Pending in the San Fernando Valley, How Can You Avoid Jail Time and the Virus? This is a good question because a lot of people are fearful of jail, but when you combine the fact that there’s the Coronavirus and you could end up going to jail in the San Fernando Valley and being exposed to the Coronavirus because the jail population is to compacted together,… Continure reading

It’s an interesting question.  Based on the Governor’s order, you would figure that all of the courthouses in Los Angeles would just close down.  Unfortunately, because they are viewed as critical need when it comes to criminal defense, the San Fernando Valley courts are open. In fact, all 38 courts in Los Angeles county are open.  They’re opened for limited business.  For example, in Van Nuys for felony cases, if… Continure reading

Aiding and abetting is a legal theory as to how prosecutors can capture additional suspects in a criminal case, beyond the principal actor. For instance, in a bar fight, two people attack two other people and one person hits someone with a bottle, cutting their eye. The man is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. His friend, who fought along with him, is charged with the same, as an… Continure reading

The police derive a lot of cases from searching people’s cars and one big trick that they have is they’ll pull you over.  They’ll order you out of the car for officer’s safety and then they’ll claim they have to go back in the car to search the car for your driver’s license, your insurance information, your car registration.  That just pretty much gives them a free search of the… Continure reading

Excessive force an interesting concept because the way I use it in criminal defense is, as a defense to certain crimes that my client is charged with.  For example, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer (CALCRIM 945). Some of these other charges that the police drum-up once they rough somebody up and the person either fights back or they don’t fight back, the police are just putting a crime… Continure reading