San Fernando Police and Prosecutors
I've been an attorney practicing criminal defense in the City of San Fernando for 27 years. Immediately after I started, in 1994, an earthquake took out the San Fernando courthouse, and cases had to be heard in one of the outbuildings.
It was one of the commerce buildings close to the courthouse while it was being repaired. So, I got my first taste of defending people through a small set-up building.
In the early 1990's, San Fernando was very dense on crime — adamant. The DA's office, the City Attorney's office, the Judges — for a long time, they've been very tough on crime — guns, domestic violence, DUI, gangs, drugs. It is probably one of the stricter courthouses regarding those issues and many other criminal matters in the 38 courts in Los Angeles County.
If you know anything about San Fernando, it's its jurisdiction. There is a San Fernando city. Even though it's part of Los Angeles County, it still has its own identity, its police force, and, in many respects, it is its little city.
If you're a criminal defense attorney practicing in that particular courthouse, you sure better know all the ins and outs, the prosecutors, who are in charge, and the hierarchy.
The District Attorney has a good showing in the San Fernando courthouse. They have a head prosecutor and an assistant head prosecutor, and they also have what they call a VIP prosecutor—a Victim Impact Prosecutor—who prosecutes sex crime cases, domestic violence cases, and the like. They have a slew of deputy District Attorneys who handle the rest of the felony cases.
District Attorney's Office in San Fernando
The City Attorney in San Fernando City also has a tiny office on the 4th floor of the building. The District Attorney is on the 3rd floor, and they are in three courts—Department M, Department A, and Department B—usually where you'll find most misdemeanor cases being prosecuted. Most of the City Attorney cases in San Fernando are being prosecuted.
So, unless you know the structure of the San Fernando court, how the city works — what types of crimes they prosecute, how they prosecute them — you'll put yourself in a challenging position if you're a criminal defense attorney trying to practice there.
I've handled thousands of cases there over a long career. I know what type of motions to file when appropriate. I understand how San Fernando City deals with certain types of offenses. I also see how the community will deal with a jury trial.
That's a very conservative community. Even though some of the jurors will be pooled from San Fernando City, which is fairly small, you're also going to get a lot of jurors from Santa Clarita, Canyon Country—a very conservative lot.
So, if you're going to take a case to trial in the City of San Fernando's courthouse, you better have a good case because you're going to have a tough jury pool. You're going to have to be ready to fight, and I've fought many cases there and been successful.
Judges in the San Fernando Court
I think the judge is a perfect bench in San Fernando—probably one of my favorite benches in the San Fernando Valley and even in Los Angeles—fair, even-handed, but also very tough.
So, you really want to be careful about taking a case to trial or trying to negotiate with the judges if it's not the right case to do so. Only a seasoned criminal defense attorney will know exactly how to handle a case in the city of San Fernando.
They will know what factors to discuss with the prosecutors, what to discuss with the judge, when the judge might be involved in resolving the case, and when you'll have to deal solely with the City Attorney's office.
They will also know when you're going to have to take your case to trial if your client is saying that they're innocent, and that needs to be well-defended.
So, if you've got a case in San Fernando, you or a loved one was arrested, pick up the phone now. Ask to speak to Ron Hedding. I've been doing this for a long time. I enjoy what I do and look forward to helping you.
