Correen Ferrentino

Correen Ferrentino

Founding Attorney

    Correen Ferrentino is the founding and managing attorney at Ferrentino Law. She is a trial attorney with over 29 years experience defending in state and federal court (more than 70 jury trials and over 500 court trials and/or evidentiary hearings) with a focus on white collar litigation and major criminal trials. She also lectures as guest faculty at USC Gould School of Law.

    Southern California Criminal Defense Trial & Appellate Attorney

      • Best Lawyers 2022 Criminal Defense-General Practice “Lawyer of the Year” in Orange County

      Notably, she won a reversal in a homicide habeas evidentiary hearing, then re-tried the case. The jury acquitted her client who was released after nine years in prison. She is a certified criminal law specialist by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.
      Ferrentino is also an accomplished appellate attorney in state and federal court.

      Experience

      As a former public defender for 10 years, Ferrentino worked in many different assignments, including felony trials, drug court & mental health court.

      She is admitted to practice in:

      • California state courts
      • The U.S. District Court for the Central, Southern, Eastern, and Northern District of California
      • The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
      • The United States Supreme Court

      Ferrentino has handled jury trial cases for decades and has had hundreds of cases dismissed outright. She exclusively practices criminal law, including State and Federal trials, writs, and appeals. Prior to her tenure as a Deputy Public Defender, she was an associate attorney of Stokke & Riddet and the Law Offices of William Kopeny from 1994-1997. She provided assistance for a variety of federal and state matters during this time with these prominent criminal attorneys.

      From 1997-2006, she tried over 45 jury trials as a attorney with the Orange County Public Defenders Office. She has also handled hundreds of matters that were dismissed due to her preparation and motion work, notably a felony DUI / vehicular manslaughter case where the client was facing life in prison.

       

      Defense for your Peace of Mind

      A Track Record of Success

      As a Public Defender in the mental health unit, Ferrentino spent years cross-examining experts in the mental health field and two years working with drug offenders in various drug courts.

      Since establishing her own practice in 2006, Ferrentino has handled hundreds of criminal trials and appeals in state & federal courts.

      Two of Ferrentino’s most notable trials include complex federal trials ending in hung juries—one of which included a multiple defendant Mexican mafia RICO gang trial in federal court where all the other defendants were convicted. Another involved a kidnap for rape case where the client was facing life in prison.

      Her philosophy is that every client deserves the utmost individual attention and she will take as much time as is necessary in order to achieve the best result possible.

       

      Education & Memberships

      Ferrentino earned her BS in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine in 1986 and went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in 1994. While at Loyola, Ferrentino clerked for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, in the center for Conflict-Resolution, and worked as an extern for the Honorable Sheila Sonenshine, Ret. in the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three. As an extern, Ferrentino Assisted in drafting two published opinions and learned how the court operates from an insider’s perspective. This experience has proven invaluable in her appellate and writ practice.

      She is a member of the prestigious Criminal Justice Act Trial and Capital Habeas Panels, whose members are appointed by the Ninth Circuit of Appeals. She is also appointed as a panel member for the California Appellate Project and Appellate Defenders, Inc., both of which are state organizations that handle appeals for indigent criminal defendants.

       

      Correen Ferrentino Career Highlights:

      • Certified Criminal Law Specialist by the California State Bar
      • Super Lawyers® list from 2014-2020.
      • Over 50 jury trials and 500 court trials and evidentiary hearings in federal and state courts
      • Extensive Experience in Complex Cases: Fraud – Business Fraud, Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, Homicide, Post-Conviction, RICO, Sexual Assault, Gangs, assorted other cases with over 75% ending in acquittals or hung juries.
      • Thousands of additional cases dismissed prior to trial in federal and state court, in addition to pre-indictment representation resulting in “no-filing” decisions in complex and serious federal investigations.
      • Successful Post-Conviction relief, especially for immigrants under California Penal Code 1473.7
      • Represented a business owner in the largest federal investigation of theft of personal identifying information in the world and obtained a non-prosecution agreement from the Unite States Attorney’s office
      • Co-counsel in a death eligible RICO federal trial matter in the U.S. District Court. The federal government dropped death on two murder charges and defendant avoided life prison sentence.
      • Complex Federal RICO Trial including U.S. v. Rincon—Five month, 11 co-defendant trial tried before the Honorable Judge David O. Carter
        • Initial 2008 trial resulted in a hung jury
        • 2010 retrial resulted in a hung jury of the RICO charges, not guilty of the VICAR charges, and guilty only of felony possession of ammunition. Defendant avoided multiple life sentences and received six years.
      • Over 25 Writs of Habeas Corpus handled in State and Federal Court, including life cases without opportunity for parole, capital writ of habeas cases and special circumstances cases.
      • Achieved reversal of conviction in two separate life conviction cases in 2010 and 2011 in the Orange County Superior Court after an evidentiary hearing in habeas matters.
      • Achieved reversal of life sentence in a 2012 appeal in the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three.
      • Received 2021 Martindale Hubbell Award, given to attorneys who are ranked at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal expertise, communication skills, and ethical standards by their peers.
      • 50+ appeals in state and federal court, and certiorari petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court
      • In excess of 1,000 written pretrial motions, including: suppression, discovery, confidential informant disclosure law enforcement personnel records, speedy trial, dismissal for prosecutorial misconduct
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