Orange County Criminal Defense Attorney
Tustin, California Call (714) 589-3063
I have spent my career defending people accused of crimes in Orange County. After years of doing this work, one lesson has stayed with me: an accusation is a starting point. It is not the end of the investigation.
I grew up Vietnamese-American in Southern California in the 1990s. For many families in my generation, our parents were working long hours trying to build a life. We were kids with grandparents, Nintendo, friends and a lot of time on our hands.
But a group of young Vietnamese guys hanging around could sometimes be seen very differently from the outside. Assumptions about gangs and criminal activity could come before anyone bothered to understand who the kids actually were or what they were doing.
That stayed with me.
Years later, I discovered a profession built around challenging exactly that problem.
The presumption of innocence is not an abstract phrase to me. It is a reminder that the government should have to prove its accusation with evidence — and that a theory should follow the evidence rather than the evidence being forced to fit a theory.
That is why I became a criminal defense attorney, and it is one reason I eventually opened my own practice. I wanted to be the lawyer standing beside the person who otherwise might feel alone against the system.
During law school, I clerked with the Orange County Public Defender's Office. After law school, I also worked with the Public Law Center.
I volunteered with the Southeast Asian Legal Outreach Program (SEALOP), helping members of the Southeast Asian community who faced language barriers obtain access to legal services.
Those experiences reinforced something that still shapes my practice today: legal systems can be intimidating even when you understand the language. When you do not understand the process, the terminology, or what the government is doing, it is remarkably easy to feel powerless.
Police officers investigate cases. Prosecutors make charging decisions. Witnesses remember events from their own perspective. My job is different. I look at the case through the eyes of the person accused.
What was actually said and done — not merely how it was later summarized in a report?
Does the video support the accusation, contradict it, or provide context the written report leaves out?
What does the blood, breath, laboratory or physical evidence actually establish?
What did someone personally observe? Did the account change? What assumptions entered the story later?
This case included visible injuries, body-camera evidence, statements made through interpretation, police and paramedic testimony, photographs and admissions by my client.
The defense did not ask the jury to pretend nothing happened. The question was what the evidence actually proved about how it happened and whether the prosecution had proved the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
After hearing the evidence, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Read the Case Study →Credentials matter. But what matters more is how the experience behind those credentials is used when someone's freedom, record, license, career or future is at stake.
Private Defenders of California, Inc. presented Hieu Vu with its 2013 Service to the Legal Community Award.
Successfully completed the DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Student Course — training concerning the standardized tests used by law enforcement in DUI investigations.
Every criminal case is different. No lawyer can ethically promise you a particular outcome. What you are hiring is judgment, experience, preparation and someone willing to put his mind to work on your problem.
I will tell you what concerns me about your case as well as what I think can be challenged. My job is not to tell you whatever makes you feel better during the first phone call.
When additional evidence exists, I want to see it. Police reports are important, but so are body cameras, surveillance, dispatch recordings, laboratory evidence and witnesses.
When you hire my office, you work with me. I review the case, discuss the strategy and offers with you, appear in court and prepare the case for the direction it needs to go.
Criminal cases do not always resolve neatly. Sometimes defending someone means reviewing hours of evidence. Sometimes it means pushing back when the prosecution will not move. Sometimes it means building mitigation. And sometimes it means preparing for a trial that would have been much easier to avoid.
I do not believe every case should be fought the same way. A good resolution may sometimes be the right answer. Other cases require challenging the evidence or taking the case to a jury.
I will not choose a path simply because it is easier for the lawyer.
I can tell you how I try to practice law. My former clients can tell you what it felt like to have me as their attorney.
“Hieu Vu was the most honest, caring and professional attorney with compassion and empathy I ever interviewed.”— Mark K.
“Hieu is very humble, personable, and made me feel very comfortable.”— Lila K.
“Attorney Vu seems to care and put a lot of effort in helping me. This guy will fight for you.”— Nam B.
When I am not practicing law, two of the things I enjoy most are Brazilian jiu-jitsu and running.
I train at One Jiu Jitsu here in Tustin under Professor Giva Santana. I am proud to be part of the school and its community, and there is something particularly meaningful to me about training in the same city where I have built my law practice.
Jiu-jitsu and running are very different from practicing law, and I don't pretend that training makes someone a better lawyer. But I am drawn to things that require patience, discipline and endurance. Progress is not always quick or comfortable. Sometimes you have to stay with something when it gets difficult, keep learning, and keep doing the work.
You don't need a sales pitch. You need to understand what you're facing. Tell me what happened. I'll tell you what I see.
Call (714) 589-3063 Schedule a Consultation