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About Cheryl

Cheryl is certified as a Criminal Law Specialist by the California State Bar. She has 18 years of experience in the practice of criminal defense and has tried over 65 criminal cases (including 30 court trials). None of the three homicide trials she litigated resulted in a conviction. She has written hundreds of complex motions and conducted over 70 motion hearings. As a legal writing and research attorney she has been approved by government panels and judges for ongoing research support in Death Penalty cases and other complex litigation including wiretap investigations.

Cheryl earned her Bachelor's Degree from the University of California (UC), Santa Barbara with High Honors in June 2001. After that, she attended UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings). She graduated from Hastings in May 2004, in the top 12% of her class. While in law school, she participated in Moot Court and volunteered with public interest groups including the General Assistance Advocacy Project (GAAP), the Civil Justice Clinic, Amnesty International, and the Public Law Center in Santa Ana, California. She received the Public Interest Clearinghouse Pro Bono Award in 2004. She also served as a Criminal Law Discussion Group Course Instructor and a Legal Writing & Research Teaching Assistant.

 

During her last semester in law school, Cheryl worked in The Hague, The Netherlands, as a law clerk for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where she assisted a trial team with legal writing and research and trial preparation in the war crimes prosecution of Radislav Brdjanin (IT-99-36). Prior to that, she interned with the International Service for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, where she observed United Nations (UN) proceedings and wrote reports for publication in The Human Rights Monitor. While in Geneva, she also researched and wrote two memoranda for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Project Coordinator on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Measures. Substantial portions of those memos were used in UN reports. She has written several articles for the American Bar Association's International Lawyer publication on the subject of International Criminal Law.

 

As a Deputy Public Defender in Solano County, California, from June 2005 through September 2015, Cheryl worked in the felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile delinquency divisions. In addition to the 65 trials and 70 motion hearings mentioned above, she has also conducted approximately 40 preliminary examinations and 65 violation hearings.

 

In recognition of her litigation skills, Cheryl received the Clarence Darrow Annual Award for Best Trial Attorney of the Year (2012) and the Thurgood Marshall Annual Award for Most Thoughtful, Intelligent, and Effective Case Preparation (2013) from office management. She was also peer-voted as having had the Most Impressive Trial Result (Second place) (2011) and Most Difficult Trial of the Year (Second place) (2011). Cheryl has also experienced a great deal of motion-related success. She left the office on good terms in September 2015, to move to Germany. She has done legal writing, research, and trial consulting exclusively for criminal defense attorneys since 2016.

 

Cheryl has also given a number of talks and trainings. In July 2024, she gave MCLE trainings to the Santa Clara County Independent Defense Counsel Office (IDO) and to the San Mateo Private Defender Program (PDP) on preserving evidentiary issues at preliminary hearing. October 2023, she gave a webinar for the California Lawyer's Association on the Reformed Gang Laws under AB 333. Also in October 2023, she gave an MCLE training to the San Mateo Bar Association on the California Racial Justice Act. As a public defender, she gave several office-wide trainings, as well as training minors in juvenile hall on how to seal their records.

 

Past Practice Areas include homicide, attempted murder, sexual assault, juvenile law, gangs, white collar crime, fraud, perjury, controlled substances (possession and sales), explosives, DUI’s, robbery, burglary, resisting and evading, threats, kidnapping, carjacking, three strikes, domestic violence, elder abuse, child pornography, weapons, mental health, intoxication, and traffic violations. She has worked with a variety of defense experts, including SART, identification, explosives, firearms and ballistics, gang, confession, psychological and psychiatric, DNA, controlled substances, and sentencing.

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She is an active member in good standing with the California Bar and is a Certified Criminal Law Specialist. She is a member of the California Public Defender's Association (CPDA) and California Appellate Defense Counsel (CADC).

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*This Website may contain references to various matters that have been handled by Cheryl McLandrich. The results portrayed in those matters were dependent upon the facts of those particular cases, and results will differ if based on different facts. Because every case is different, the descriptions of awards and cases previously handled are not intended to imply or guarantee success in other cases.

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