EDUARDO M. MADRID, ESQ.
State Bar No: 82395
Ed@MadridLawFirm.com

Ed was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ed planned to attend college and law school in California and return to New Mexico to practice law. However, along the way, Ed met his wife, Cindy, got married and made their home in Southern California.

Ed and Cindy have two daughters, one of which is an attorney and practices law with him. His other daughter is a human resources specialist and currently resides in Tempe, Arizona with her husband. Ed and Cindy are soon to be proud grandparents.

Being a self-motivated and self-made individual, Ed worked his way through college and law school. Ed attended Cal-State University Dominguez Hills while working full time until he graduated in 1973. Upon graduation from college, Ed enrolled at American College of Law and attended part-time while clerking full time for the law firm of Simon, Kesner & Simon. Ed received his Juris Doctor degree in 1978, successfully passed the California bar exam that same year and hung up his shingle. So was the genesis of the MADRID LAW FIRM.

Early on in his career, Ed was faced with his most difficult and challenging criminal case, which had a profound effect on his view of the criminal justice system. His client was caught up in a wave of child molestation hysteria that was prevalent in the early eighties. His client and three other individuals arrested were innocent victims of a vicious and calculating witch hunt. The witch hunt was precipitated by a neighbor and her disturbed kids who alleged that the kids had been kidnapped from their homes and school and forced to participate in human and animal sacrifices and satanic rituals. The kids were forced to microwave and eat babies. The kids further alleged that they were forced to a church basement wherein dancing knives would come out of the floor, and then they were forced to kill and eat babies. The kids further alleged that they were sexually molested during these satanic rituals.

As a result of these allegations, Ed’s client and the other three individuals were falsely and wrongfully arrested, removed from their homes in handcuffs in front of a hostile neighborhood, subjected to humiliating cavity searches, not allowed to bathe or change clothes for days and branded as child molesters. The four individuals were charged with a (19) nineteen felony count criminal complaint and bail was set at $100,000.00 for each client. The media had a field day. The witch hunt precipitated the arrest and prosecution of these four innocent people, which in turn demonstrated that the arrest was not based on investigation or fact, and the ensuing prosecution was not based on any credible evidence or reasonable suspicion that in fact a crime had occurred. The arrest and prosecution of these four innocent people was a travesty of justice. The life of each client was turned upside down and life as they knew it was no longer going to be the same-ever.

During the course of a six-week preliminary hearing, Ed and his colleagues put on an affirmative defense challenging the credibility and veracity of each and every prosecution witness. The end result was a dismissal of all charges. The dismissal of the criminal charges became the beginning of the civil rights case of Valentin v. County of Los Angeles, which was tried three times, appealed twice to the California Court of Appeal and once to the California Supreme Court over a span of 17 years. The case ultimately settled before the start of the third trial.

Ed has dedicated his career in defending his clients against social, civil and legal injustices in both the criminal and civil arenas. Ed is known as being an aggressive, passionate and effective advocate in the courtroom. Ed has tried numerous criminal, civil and civil rights cases to verdicts.

Ed is licensed to practice before the State Bar of California. He has also been admitted to the following courts:

U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
U.S. Court of Appeal, 9 th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeal, 10 th Circuit

While the firm is dedicated primarily to criminal defense and civil litigation, Ed has been involved in several writ proceedings and appeals, three of which resulted in published opinions; County of Los Angeles v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County [Valentin] (2000) 78 Cal.App.4 th 212, Hidalgo v. Fagen, Inc. 206 F.3d 1013 (10th Cir. 2000) and Juan R. Flores v. Autozone West, Inc. (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 373.

Ed is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Eastern Bar Association.

Ed completed his judge’s training to become a Judge Pro Tem. Ed served as a Judge Pro Tem in the Municipal Court of California, County of Los Angeles hearing civil and small claims cases part-time and voluntarily over a span of 5 years.

Ed served and presided as a judge voluntarily in mock criminal trials of the Trial Advocacy Honors Board of Whittier Law School.

Being from New Mexico, Ed is a cowboy at heart and a team roper. When Ed is not in Court or in his office, Ed is on his horse, Johnny Ringo, team roping. Ed is a big supporter of the Rodeo Cowboys and attends many of their rodeos throughout California, Nevada and Texas, including the National Finals Rodeo, which is held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the end of the year. Ed has the highest regard, respect and admiration for the rodeo cowboy because unlike other sports, the rodeo cowboy is the only professional athlete that has to pay his way to compete. Ed is a member of the USTRC (United States Team Roping Championships) and ACTRA (American Cowboy Team Roping Association). Ed competes in the Businessman’s Team Roping event of the annual San Dimas Rodeo.

For more information about sponsoring rodeos and rodeo athletes contact Ed

JOHNNY RINGO, the deadliest pistolero since Wild Bill.

FEATURED VIDEO

Courtroom Cowboy Watch Video - By day, Ed Madrid is a criminal attorney and has been for 30 years. But while he fights for justice during his day job, the other side to this hard working, no nonsense lawyer is a cowboy who loves to team rope!