Michael Cardoza
Encyclopedia
Michael Cardoza is a defense attorney in California
. Prior to his criminal defense work, he worked in three of California's District attorney
offices: Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, and Alameda County. Now he currently operates a private practice, Cardoza Law
from McGeorge School of Law
. He passed the California Bar
the same year, and began practicing as a trial attorney in the District Attorney's Offices of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Alameda County. He worked as a prosecutor
for 14 years before he opened his private practice in 1985. His current practice, Cardoza Law Offices, is located in Walnut Creek, California
. Since opening his private practice, Cardoza has worked on many high-profile cases such as the Scott Peterson
trial and the Barry Bonds steroid scandal. Additionally, he acts as a Judge Pro Tem
in Santa Clara County and an arbitrator with the Superior Court of San Francisco
.
In addition to operating a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area
, he also acts as a leading legal consultant for radio and television broadcast stations. Previous appearances include: CNN
's Larry King Live
, 60 Minutes
, HBO, The Oprah Winfrey Show
, Good Morning America
, NBC
's Today Show, and 48 Hours
.
Cardoza also volunteers time with the trial advocacy program at Stanford University Law School and acts as a guest lecturer.
Cardoza also worked as the lead attorney in the Christine Hubbs case. Ms. Hubbs was charged with over 60 counts of unlawful sexual encounters with two 14 year old males. Her bailed reached $4.3 million. Her case settled and she faces 5 years in state prison. Cardoza continues to handle other high profile cases such as that of Officer Norman Wielsch. As head of the drug task force team, he allegedly stole confiscated narcotics from Contra Costa County, California and later sold them for personal profits. His bail was reduced from $900,000 and is currently set at $400,000.
Cardoza has also been featured in Diablo Magazine, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated
.
California law
California law consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law.-Constitutional law:...
. Prior to his criminal defense work, he worked in three of California's District attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
offices: Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, and Alameda County. Now he currently operates a private practice, Cardoza Law
Background
In 1971, Cardoza received his J.D.Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from McGeorge School of Law
McGeorge School of Law
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is a private, ABA approved law school in the Oak Park neighborhood of the city of Sacramento, California. It is part of the University of the Pacific....
. He passed the California Bar
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
the same year, and began practicing as a trial attorney in the District Attorney's Offices of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Alameda County. He worked as a prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
for 14 years before he opened his private practice in 1985. His current practice, Cardoza Law Offices, is located in Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
. Since opening his private practice, Cardoza has worked on many high-profile cases such as the Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
trial and the Barry Bonds steroid scandal. Additionally, he acts as a Judge Pro Tem
Pro tempore
Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...
in Santa Clara County and an arbitrator with the Superior Court of San Francisco
San Francisco County Superior Court
The San Francisco County Superior Court is one of the Superior Courts of California....
.
In addition to operating a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, he also acts as a leading legal consultant for radio and television broadcast stations. Previous appearances include: CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
, 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, HBO, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today Show, and 48 Hours
48 Hours (TV series)
48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since January 19, 1988. The program originally presented documentaries of various events related to a particular subject occurring within a 48-hour period, and is credited as one of the first to air a "reality show"...
.
Cardoza also volunteers time with the trial advocacy program at Stanford University Law School and acts as a guest lecturer.
Notable cases
Some of the most notable cases Cardoza has worked on include:- The Diane WhippleDiane WhippleDiane Alexis Whipple was a lacrosse player and coach, who is best known as the victim of a fatal dog attack in San Francisco in January 2001. The dogs involved were two Presa Canario dogs named Bane and Hera , owned by neighbors living in the same apartment building.-Life:Whipple was born in...
San Francisco Dog Mauling case: In January 2001, Diana Whipple returned home to her San Francisco apartment only to be attacked and killed by two large dogs in the apartment complex hallway.
- Cardoza represented Whipple's domestic partner, Sharon Smith, in her wrongful-death suit against Knoller and Noel, the dog owners. The case made huge strides for the Gay and Lesbian community in California at large because it challenged the statutes that denied same-sex partners legal standing to bring such a claim. Cardoza helped Smith recover $1.5 million in damages.
- The 2007 SF Zoo Tiger MaulingSan Francisco Zoo tiger attacksTwo tiger attacks at the San Francisco Zoo occurred on December 22, 2006 and December 25, 2007, both involving a 243-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana . In the first incident, a zookeeper was bitten on the arm during a public feeding...
: On Christmas day in 2007, a tiger in the San Francisco Zoo jumped out of its enclosure, killed a 17-year-old zoo visitor, Carlos Sousa, Jr., and wounded two others. Cardoza and his firm brought charges for negligence, wrongful death, and public nuisance against the San Francisco Zoo on behalf of the parents of Sousa . Cardoza drew particular attention to the fact that the zoo's enclosure for the animals was inadequate. He argued that regardless of the taunting that occurred, an animal with the potential to cause serious injury or death to zoo visitors should not be able to escape from its enclosure . The amount reached in the settlement was not disclosed.
- The Barry BondsBarry BondsBarry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
Steroid Scandal Cardoza represented Stevie Hoskins, best friend of San Francisco Giants hitter, Barry Bonds. Hoskins testified before the Grand Jury that indicted Barry Bonds for perjured statements about his steroid use.
- People v. Murphy Murder Trial: Cardoza's client, James Murphy, was charged with capital murder in a drug raid gone wrong in San Mateo, California. The murder occurred in a family home in the 1970s and remained an unsolved crime until the early 2000s. Cardoza and his litigation team worked to undermine the testimony of the witnesses. The case ended up being the first not-guilty verdict in San Mateo County in over 20 years.
- The Scott PetersonScott PetersonScott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
Case: In 2004, Scott PetersonScott PetersonScott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
received a guilty verdict for the murder of his wife, Laci, and the couple's unborn child. Cardoza appeared on CNN and Fox News as legal analyst in Scott Peterson Discussion Panels However, once Cardoza became personally involved with the case the court placed a gag order on him. As part of the preparation for the case, Peterson's attorney reached out to Cardoza for assistance in cross examining his client and determining whether Peterson should take the stand.
- Your Black Muslim BakeryYour Black Muslim BakeryYour Black Muslim Bakery was a bakery opened by Yusuf Bey in 1968 in Santa Barbara, California, and relocated to Oakland in 1971. A power broker at the center of a local community, it was held out as a model of African American economic self-sufficiency. However, it was later linked to widespread...
: Cardoza defended the company in a felony assault case where the jury arrived at a not-guilty verdict. This was the lead off case in the Chauncey BaileyChauncey BaileyChauncey Wendell Bailey, Jr. was an American journalist, noted for his work primarily on issues of the African-American community. He served as editor-in-chief of The Oakland Post from June 2007 until he was shot dead on August 2, 2007...
Murder trials.
- In 2010, the defendant Bey was charged with a felony assault in which the victim suffered various injuries. Bey, Cardoza's client, was one of a number of men allegedly attacking the victim. The jury found Bey not guilty because of lack of evidence.
- The Marlene Corrigan Trial Cardoza defended Marlene Corrigan, who faced severe charges of child abuse to her daughter, Christine. Marlene's 13 year-old daughter, Christine, weighed well over 600 pounds when she died in November of 1996. Despite Marlene's attempts to help control her daughter's weight, Christine's obesity brought about her untimely death. At the time of her demise, Christine had sores on her body and could no longer attend school. She could not exit her home without overhearing rude and hurtful commentary from her peers and classmates. The death of Christine sparked a debate as to the responsibilities of parents in controlling obesity in their children.
Cardoza also worked as the lead attorney in the Christine Hubbs case. Ms. Hubbs was charged with over 60 counts of unlawful sexual encounters with two 14 year old males. Her bailed reached $4.3 million. Her case settled and she faces 5 years in state prison. Cardoza continues to handle other high profile cases such as that of Officer Norman Wielsch. As head of the drug task force team, he allegedly stole confiscated narcotics from Contra Costa County, California and later sold them for personal profits. His bail was reduced from $900,000 and is currently set at $400,000.
Publications
Beyond A Reasonable Doubt- In 2006, Michael Cardoza contributed an article, "Troubling Changes in the Prosecution of Cases: How Prosecutors have allowed the Media and Politics to affect their Discretion" to Larry King's book Beyond A Reasonable Doubt. Cardoza provides an analysis of the effects of political pressures and media on the criminal justice system based on his experiences as a seasoned high-profile attorney. He draws particular attention to the struggles District Attorneys face in maintaining ethical prosecution practices with electoral challenges of today.
Cardoza has also been featured in Diablo Magazine, Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
.