Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney defends Los Angeles Clippers announcer Mike Smith who was acquitted of grand theft, according to multiple media reports.
He had been charged with stealing $73...5,000 from a golfing buddy in a development deal gone bad.
An Orange County jury took two hours to return the verdict. Smith would have faced up to five years in prison if he had been found guilty after an impassioned closing argument by Huish.
The high profile victory allowed Smith to keep his job as Clippers Announcer.
"I'm relieved, obviously, but mostly I'm just grateful to the judge and jury who saw to it [that] the truth came out," Smith told the Beverly Hills Courier. "This was a very difficult thing to go through for me and my family."
Mr. Huish is recognized as one of the most efficient Criminal Defense and Jury Trial attorney in the State.
Criminal defense
OCDA Auto Body Sting
Jan 01, 2010
OUTCOME: Dismissed
OC District Attorney's Office charged over 50 Auto-body Shop Owners with Felony Fraud. Mr Huish Handled 15 of these cases - everyone of which was dismissed.
DUI and DWI
DUI Homicide
Jan 01, 2010
OUTCOME:
People v. R
The Defendant was only 21 when he drove while intoxicated and killed two people in Santa Barbara. The case was one of the most visible and followed cases of the year in Santa Barbara Co...unty. The District Attorney had sought over 20 years in State Prison for each of the two deaths.
Result: Defendant to be released in under 6 years.
Criminal defense
People v. Nicolas
Mar 14, 2008
OUTCOME: Not Guilty after Trial
Dentist accused of First Degree Murder - Found Not Guilty -
Riverside Dentist charged in the daylight shooting of her ex-husband. Dr. Nicolas was held without bail for over two years while Huish ...battled for her release. After a six week trial Dr. Nicolas was acquitted of all charges marking the first Full Not Guilty Verdict in a Murder one Case in Riverside County in over five years.
Verdict: Not Guilty
Criminal defense
Security Guard Charged with Impersonation of a Police Officer
Jan 01, 2001
OUTCOME: Reduced to Misdemeanor and Dismissed
Defendant was a High Profile Security Company Operator accused of impersonating police officers, multiple weapons charges and maintaining an arsenal of weapons in his home. The Felony Charges carried o...ver twenty years in potential punishment.
Result: Case reduced to a misdemeanor and Dismissed
DUI and DWI
9th DUI and Facing Life
Jan 01, 2000
OUTCOME: Case reduced - Minimal Sentence
Drunken driving reprieves possible LAW: Man charged with a 9th DUI could be among those who benefit from a legislative mistake.
March 12, 2000
By KIMBERLY KINDY The Orange County Register
Randal...l Brockus is facing his ninth drunken-driving offense and a lifetime in prison, but an Orange County attorney just might get him off due to a mistake by the California Legislature.
In early 1999, the Legislature rewrote a growing and complex set of drunken-driving laws to make them easier for both the legal system and public to understand. But a provision targeting repeat DUI offenders was accidentally omitted.
Now, defense attorneys are lining up behind Huish to get their clients' felony charges reduced to misdemeanors.
The difference in potential punishment for repeat offenders is huge. Most felonies carry an extended prison sentence, but a misdemeanor conviction often ends with a suspended license and short stint in county jail.
The legislative error was found, and an emergency bill was crafted to fix it. But from July 1, 1999, to Oct. 10, 1999, defense attorneys insist there was a legal loophole.
And the hole might be big enough for hundreds of accused drunken drivers to slip through.
"Hey, if the Legislature doesn't do the right thing to protect the people of the state of California, you had better believe I'll do my job to protect my client," said Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney Dyke Huish, who was the first to spot the mistake for the Brockus case. "They made a mistake, but my client shouldn't pay for that mistake. The law was clear. No one is arguing that it's ambiguous."
In Brockus' case, his first DUI conviction came 17 years ago, and this loophole test-case collides with yet another law aimed at cracking down on repeat criminals.
The three-strikes law might land Brockus in prison for life, if the felony DUI charge sticks, because he has three prior arrests for violent crimes all robberies.
"Do I want Mr. Brockus to ever drive again? No. Do I think he should go to prison for the rest of his life? No. I don't think that's justice either," Huish said. "But this isn't really about Mr. Brockus. This is about the law and what the Legislature did. They wrote the three-strikes law, and the Legislature also made this mistake."
Consumer protection
$400 Million Dollar Fraud
N/A
OUTCOME: Facing 34 Years - Out in 3 1/2
10/5/09
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- There's a bit of relief for the victims of a multi-million dollar case of financial fraud and embezzlement.
The people who ran Estate Financial, based in Paso Robles, c...hanged their pleas to guilty, on Monday.
Before they did, their victims had the chance to speak for the first time in court.
"It's a day-in day-out thing, you're constantly living with it, constantly trying to figure out how you're going to make it to the next day," said Colleen Childers. "How are you going to pay the bills?"
The victims spoke just before 65-year-old Karen Guth and her son, 40-year-old Joshua Yaguda, pleaded guilty to 26 felony counts of fraud and embezzlement.
The counts are related to the mishandling of millions of dollars.
"It was time to take responsibility to avoid causing anybody -- family, friends, former investors, or the county of San Luis Obispo -- any further discomfort," said Dyke Huish, a defense attorney.
Guth is the president of Estate Financial and Yaguda is the vice president.
She now faces 12 years in prison and he is expected to receive eight years in prison.
"They never set out to cause anybody harm or pain," said Huish. "Unfortunately, circumstances sometimes get out of control and they made mistakes."
Several victims addressed the court, many of them calling for a stricter sentence.
"The defendants need much more time to reflect on their crimes against society," said Joseph Schacherer, a victim.
The Paso Robles based lender had collected some $340 million from about 3,000 investors around the globe, before its demise.
The maximum sentence Guth and Yaguda could each receive is 34 years and four months in prison.
They are expected to be sentenced on December 7th.
Yaguda received only 8 Years - and will be out in less than 3 1/2 Years
