The ACH team has broad experience defending all kinds of felony and misdemeanor cases, from pre-arrest investigation through trial and appeals, in both state and federal courts.

No case is too big—or too small—for our firm to handle.

Our areas of expertise include:

• Antitrust Violations
• Financial offenses (including money laundering, bank/wire fraud, tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud, Medicare and insurance fraud, government contracting fraud, and embezzlement)
• Securities fraud
• Grand jury investigation of corporate officers and employees
• Environmental violations
• Import/export crimes
• Theft of intellectual property
  
• Homicides (including vehicular cases)
• Assault, battery, and domestic violence
• Juvenile cases
• Narcotics cases (from simple possession to drug trafficking)
• Sex offenses (from indecent exposure to rape)
• Traffic-related offenses (including drunk driving)
• Appeals and habeas corpus
• Defense of Professional Athletes

Notable Cases
At ACH, we routinely win cases in courts around the state and the country. But many of our most significant victories come in cases that never reach a courtroom. These “quiet” successes spare our clients and their families untold emotional trauma, embarrassment, and expense.

To be effective outside the courtroom, ACH attorneys work hard to ensure that we have total command of the facts as early as possible. At the same time, we also make it clear to prosecutors that we are prepared to fight through trial and appeal, if necessary.

The following cases demonstrate how we win for our clients time and again:

Antitrust Violations

• In United States v. A Corporate Employee, an employee was accused of antitrust violations linked to a wide-ranging scheme to defraud a federal agency in numerous federal jurisdictions. The government alleged that the employee’s actions had cost the agency millions of dollars. After conducting their own investigation, ACH lawyers convinced U.S. Attorneys from both the Criminal and the Antitrust divisions not to prosecute the client. As a result of the ACH team’s efforts, the employee was never charged.

Financial Offenses

• In United States v. an Individual, a medical doctor was the subject of a criminal complaint for insurance fraud for allegedly falsifying patients’ HIV status. The insurance company claimed losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. By emphasizing the doctor’s exemplary career of public service (as well as the lack of evidence), ACH lawyers persuaded prosecutors to dismiss the complaint before an indictment was filed.
  
  
• In United States v. an Individual, a successful Oakland business owner became embroiled in a bitter dispute with investors, eventually filing for bankruptcy. A bankruptcy trustee accused the client of defrauding the court of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and federal prosecutors filed numerous felony charges. On the eve of trial, government prosecutors agreed to dispose of the case for a single misdemeanor conviction.
  
  
• In United States v. an Individual, the client was charged with defrauding the IRS of hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. With the assistance of forensic accountants, ACH attorneys convinced the prosecutor that the government’s figures were inaccurate. The case was resolved with a misdemeanor plea.

Securities Fraud

• In U.S. v. a Director of a High-Profile Public Company, the client was accused of conspiracy, securities fraud, accounting fraud, and criminal racketeering charges based on the testimony of the “cooperating” CFO and other corporate officers. After a four-month jury trial, which included scathing cross-examinations by ACH lawyers of the prosecution’s chief witnesses, the client was acquitted on the most serious counts and convicted only of violating laws associated with using a business credit card for personal expenses. ACH lawyers brought a successful appeal, and the convictions were eventually reversed.
  
  
• In In re Grand Jury Investigation of a Corporate Marketing Director, a federal grand jury was investigating a corporation, and particularly its marketing director, for publicizing false sales numbers in an effort to maintain or increase the company’s stock price. ACH lawyers conducted their own intensive review of all of the documentary evidence and thoroughly investigated the credibility of the “whistleblower.” In an unusual strategy, ACH lawyers presented the results of their investigation to the Department of Justice and permitted the client to be interviewed by federal prosecutors. No charges were filed.
  
  
• In In re Grand Jury Investigation of a CFO of a Public Company, a federal grand jury was investigating a company’s chief financial officer for accounting fraud. ACH attorneys launched their own exhaustive investigation and gave a detailed presentation to prosecutors, highlighting the exonerating evidence the firm had uncovered as well as the different interpretations that could be made of the prosecution’s evidence. ACH attorneys were successful in persuading the Department of Justice not to file charges.

Grand Jury Investigations of Corporate Officers and Employees

ACH lawyers have a great deal of experience in defending corporate officers and employees of corporations. Frequently, when the Department of Justice investigates a corporation for a criminal or civil violation involving the SEC, the FDA, or other regulatory agency, ACH lawyers are called in to defend individual employees. We have successfully represented the president, sales director, and regulatory compliance officer of various medical device and major drug companies in lengthy grand jury investigations, as well as numerous sales, marketing, and accounting executives at high-tech companies. This representation invariably entails gaining a full mastery of the details of the business as well as relevant state and federal regulations. We work as cooperatively as possible with corporate counsel to obtain the best results for our clients.

• In In re Grand Jury Investigation of a Corporate Marketing Director, a federal grand jury was investigating a corporation, and particularly its marketing director, for publicizing false sales numbers in an effort to maintain or increase the company’s stock price. ACH lawyers conducted their own intensive review of all of the documentary evidence and thoroughly investigated the credibility of the “whistleblower.” In an unusual strategy, ACH lawyers presented the results of their investigation to the Department of Justice and permitted the client to be interviewed by federal prosecutors. No charges were filed.
  
  
• In In re Grand Jury Investigation of a CFO of a Public Company, a federal grand jury was investigating a company’s chief financial officer for accounting fraud. ACH attorneys launched their own exhaustive investigation and gave a detailed presentation to prosecutors, highlighting the exonerating evidence the firm had uncovered as well as the different interpretations that could be made of the prosecution evidence. ACH attorneys were successful in persuading the Department of Justice not to file charges.

Environmental Violations

• In United States v. an Individual, the new operator of a major energy plant accused the predecessor company’s managers of illegally dumping toxic materials. At trial, ACH attorneys proved that the government’s star witness was lying and was himself an environmental offender. After the prosecution rested its case, the judge dismissed all the charges.
  
  
• In United States v. a Corporation, one of the client’s employees was killed in a tragic accident at a chemical plant. Initially, the local prosecutor was determined to indict the company. After an extensive investigation, however, the ACH team convinced the prosecutor that the evidence would not support a criminal charge.

Homicide

• In People v. a Corporation, a midlevel supervisor was singled out as the scapegoat in a deadly chemical-plant explosion. After conducting an extensive investigation involving scores of witness interviews and expert consultations, the ACH team convinced the prosecutor that the evidence did not support criminal charges against the supervisor.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, the client was charged with defrauding an elderly relative and then committing great bodily injury leading to the relative’s death. During the trial, ACH lawyers showed that the charges had been contrived by other relatives who had been removed from the deceased’s most recent will. All charges against the client were dismissed.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, the client shot and killed a man who had followed him out of a bar late at night. The ACH lawyers proved that, contrary to the testimony of witnesses, the client had fired two warning shots. The man was acquitted.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, a high-profile sports agent was charged with murder for hire and conspiracy to murder a competitor. After a first trial ended with a hung jury leaning toward guilt, the ACH team took over. The new team reinvestigated the case and revamped the defense strategy. After a second trial lasting ten months, the jury deadlocked 11 to 1, with the majority of jurors voting to acquit. All the charges were then dismissed.

Assault, Battery, and Domestic Violence

• In People v. an Individual, the wife of a murdered Alameda County drug dealer was accused of shooting at her husband’s killers in the mortuary during the viewing of his body. After an exhaustive examination of the physical evidence, which proved that the client was the victim, not the perpetrator, ACH lawyers persuaded the prosecutor to dismiss all charges.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, the client was arrested for torture and mayhem after he was accused of attacking an apparently innocent victim with caustic chemicals, a pellet gun, and his fists. An ACH investigation established that the accuser and so-called victim was a fraud artist who had been cultivating marijuana in the client’s home without his knowledge. Eventually, the most serious charges—which carried potential life sentences—were dismissed, and the case was resolved without a prison sentence.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, a young man was charged with assaulting his girlfriend. ACH attorneys investigated the alleged victim’s background and discovered that she had a history of falsely accusing her boyfriends of abuse. Armed with this information, ACH attorneys persuaded prosecutors to dismiss all charges.

Juvenile Cases

• In In re a Minor, the client was accused of murder on a “provocative act” theory, meaning that he did not actually commit the killing but incited someone else to do so in response to the client’s own violent act. After extensive hearings, the case was resolved as a simple assault and the client went home to his family.
  
  
• In In re a Minor, the client was charged with selling small quantities of marijuana. The prosecutor initially wanted to charge the case as a felony and to remove the juvenile from his home. After a ACH attorney convinced the prosecutor that the client was not a trafficker, the case was resolved as a misdemeanor and the teenager was sentenced to 40 hours of volunteer work.
  
  
• In In re a Minor, the client was arrested with friends after breaking into the local high school. One of the youth’s friends emerged from the school with school equipment in his hands. The ACH team convinced the prosecutor that the client did not participate in any theft, and the youngster was placed on informal probation (with no court finding of guilt).

Sex Offenses

• In People v. an Individual, a professional football star was accused of drugging a woman and committing date rape. After ACH lawyers aggressively cross-examined the complaining witness, her friends, and the prosecution’s expert, all charges were dismissed.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, a dancer claimed that one of her customers had attempted to have nonconsensual intercourse with her inside the club. The customer was charged with rape. After a grueling cross-examination of the complaining witness by ACH lawyers, all felony rape charges were dismissed.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, the client was charged with raping and sodomizing a 16-year-old neighbor. At trial, the ACH attorneys proved that the supposed victim was a pathological liar and that events could not have occurred as she described. The client was acquitted.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, a health care professional was accused of sexually assaulting several of his patients and was charged with multiple felony counts. Conviction would have required him to register as a sex offender. In a deal negotiated by ACH attorneys, the client pleaded to non-registrable offenses and received no jail time.

Traffic-Related Offenses

ACH lawyers are very experienced at analyzing, negotiating, and trying DUI (driving under the influence) cases throughout the Bay Area. We work with top experts to evaluate test results, examine the evidence for suppression issues, and focus on obtaining the best result for the client.

• In People v. an Individual, an intoxicated man was arrested after leaving a bar and attempting to drive home on his motorcycle. Although the motorcycle wouldn’t start, the man was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. ACH attorneys convinced prosecutors that they would lose at trial because they had no witnesses who saw the man actually driving the motorcycle. The district attorney agreed not to file charges.

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Appeals and Habeas Corpus

• In People v. an Individual, the client had already been convicted of first-degree murder and had served 10 years in prison when ACH attorneys took over the case. The ACH team successfully petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus and ultimately won the client’s freedom with a dismissal of all charges after two separate appeals.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, police officers conducted a warrantless search of the client’s apartment and allegedly discovered more than 20 pounds of cocaine, several guns and over $30,000 in cash. ACH attorneys succeeded on a motion to suppress evidence that was eventually reversed by the California Supreme Court. Nevertheless, the ACH team obtained the dismissal of all charges.
  
  
• In People v. an Individual, the client was wrongfully convicted of shooting two men and was serving a 29-year sentence when his family came to ACH. Pursuing the appeal process over seven years, the ACH team eventually prevailed on a federal writ of habeas corpus. After representing him in the second trial, ACH lawyers obtained the client’s freedom.
  
  
• In United States v. an Individual, the client had been convicted on federal bank fraud charges. On appeal, ACH attorneys successfully argued that the prosecutor had failed to prove that the banks were federally insured, and each of those convictions was reversed.

Defense of Professional Athletes

Arguedas, Cassman & Headley has successfully represented numerous professional athletes from the NFL, the NBA, and elite track and field athletes on a variety of criminal and/or regulatory offenses and investigations. We are experienced in handling the notoriety that often accompanies these cases and the unique issues that arise for professional sports figures. (See coverage in Our Cases).