OXNARD : Convicted Panderer Wins Appeal Ruling

An Oxnard man imprisoned for running what prosecutors called the county’s largest house of prostitution won a chance at freedom Tuesday when a state appeals court ruled evidence in his case had been improperly withheld from his defense.

Henry Hardy, who was convicted in September, 1991, of nine counts of pandering, two counts of pimping and one count of possession of marijuana for sale, argued in his appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeal that the Ventura County district attorney’s office singled him out because he was the only black defendant in the case.

“I think the court did the right thing,” defense attorney Christian Menard said of the ruling.

The appeal contends that Hardy, because of his race and sex, was the only defendant prosecuted after a countywide sweep of the prostitution trade.

But the prosecution argued that Hardy oversaw the area’s biggest prostitution operation and netted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” illegally at the Oxnard business, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley said.

A Superior Court hearing to determine whether information not released by prosecutors would support a retrial will be scheduled later this spring, Menard said.

“We’ll be able to put on a good case, showing discrimination,” he added. “We’re very hopeful that after that hearing discrimination will be established and Mr. Hardy will be set free.”

Menard said Wednesday he would file within weeks a motion to have his client released from Tehachapi State Prison to assist in his own defense. However, Frawley said the district attorney’s office would oppose Hardy’s release.