A local legal aide filed a motion in Superior Court Tuesday in
the hope of having a judge declare her factually innocent of a
criminal charge of practicing law without a license.
The move follows a decision earlier this month by District
Attorney John Sarsfield to drop the charge because of insufficient
evidence.
Hollister –A local legal aide filed a motion in Superior Court Tuesday in the hope of having a judge declare her factually innocent of a criminal charge of practicing law without a license.
The move follows a decision earlier this month by District Attorney John Sarsfield to drop the charge because of insufficient evidence.
Amanda Hernandez, a legal aide to attorney Michael Pekin, has graduated from law school and passed the bar, but fears that without a certificate of innocence the California State Bar will be hesitant to grant her a law license.
“It would make it harder,” said her lawyer Patrick Pekin, who is the son of Michael Pekin. “Not impossible, but harder.”
The charge against Hernandez stemmed from her involvement in a portion of a lawsuit against former Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, filed by Michael Pekin on behalf of an anonymous group known as Los Valientes.
Hernandez conducted an interview and prepared a declaration for a planning department employee that Michael Pekin used in a failed attempt to obtain a restraining order against former Planning Department Director Rob Mendiola.
“The facts of this case are uncontroverted,” her attorney, Patrick Pekin stated in the motion. “The prosecution rested on a single document which, according to overwhelming California law, cannot constitute even a colorable showing of the offense… This case was extremely weak and likely brought for an unconstitutional purpose.”
Patrick Pekin claimed District Attorney John Sarsfield was discriminatorily prosecuting Hernandez in an attempt to impede Michael Pekin’s suit against Scagliotti.
Sarsfield, who did not return calls from the Free Lance Wednesday, has said he charged Hernandez because she does not have a law license, and that her involvement was illegal. But two visiting judges declared the case lacked enough evidence to proceed to trial.
Based on those declarations, Deputy District Attorney Denny Wei asked a judge to dismiss the case, but declined to concede Hernandez’s innocence.
Patrick Pekin argued against the dismissal without an accompanying concession of innocence from the DA – without which, he said, Hernandez’s chance of getting her law license would be compromised.
While Patrick Pekin is optimistic a judge will grant Hernandez the certificate of innocence, he was unsure what course of action they’ll take if a judge refuses.
“I haven’t looked into what happens if he declines it – we could file it again, appeal it, what have you,” Patrick Pekin said. “If a judge decides not to grant the motion, we’ll just have to move on.”
Hernandez is scheduled to appear before a judge on Oct. 12.
