Attorney Misses Hearing : Bench Warrant Issued for Arrest of Hardman

A bench warrant for the arrest of Cedrick W. Hardman, the suspended Laguna Beach High School football coach, was issued Monday after neither Hardman nor his attorney appeared at a pretrial hearing in South Orange County Municipal Court. The attorney, Ronald P. Kreber, later said it was a technical matter that will be cleared up today.

The court hearing was in connection with a charge of resisting arrest against Hardman, a former all-pro lineman in the National Football League.

Kreber said that Hardman was not supposed to be at the pretrial hearing and that he was supposed to appear for him. “And I couldn’t get there because I was in a murder trial (in Orange County Superior Court),” Kreber said.

Kreber said he will ask Municipal Judge Blair Barnett to cancel the warrant against Hardman today and reschedule the pretrial hearing for Jan. 7.

“There’s actually no order out to arrest Cedrick,” Kreber said. “The warrant is just a way for the court to maintain jurisdiction.”

Kreber said he was unavoidably detained Monday at the murder trial in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana and could not get to the Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel before it closed.

‘Just a Mix-Up’

At the Municipal Court’s closing time, 5 p.m., Clerk Monica Richards said that “a bench warrant has been ordered for Cedrick Hardman.”

“It was just a mix-up,” said Charlene Ragatz, a school board member in Laguna Beach Unified School District, when contacted for comment Monday night. She noted that Hardman wasn’t supposed to be in court “and was just doing what his attorney advised.”

Ragatz and three other school board members--Susan Mas, Carl Schwarz and Janet Vickers--are facing a recall action after voting in October to allow Hardman to continue as an unofficial, volunteer coach with the Laguna Beach High football team. Critics, including the recall leaders, have charged that the action gave high school youngsters the wrong message about drug use.

Hardman was arrested by Laguna Beach police Sept. 20 on Laguna Canyon Road after his car was allegedly seen going 10 miles over the speed limit. Police said they spotted “a white powdery substance” in Hardman’s briefcase as the coach fumbled for his driver’s license. That substance was later found to be cocaine, police said.

Police also said Hardman resisted arrest. He was charged with that offense and the more serious offense of felony drug possession. The drug charge will be dropped, however, if Hardman completes a drug diversion program that he and the court agreed to on Oct. 24.