HARUTYUNYAN

Steve Cooley, District Attorney, Phyllis C. Asayama, Shirley S.N. Sun and Natasha Cooper, Deputy District Attorneys, for Real Party in Interest.

Petitioner Vahan Harutyunyan is charged with grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft and with multiple counts of money laundering. He is currently incarcerated in the Los Angeles County jail, with his bail set at $1,987,000. After appearing three times before Commissioner Henry J. Hall on April 7, 9 and 18, 2008, on April 25, 2008, petitioner's counsel informed the court that petitioner would not stipulate to Commissioner Hall. Over petitioner's objections, the preliminary hearing was continued on April 25, 2008, and May 13, 2008, by Commissioner Hall.

On June 12, 2008, petitioner filed a petition for a writ of mandate in this court, claiming that Commissioner Hall lacked the authority to continue the preliminary hearing and that petitioner was entitled to a dismissal because the preliminary hearing had not been conducted within 10 court days after his arraignment. We denied the petition summarily on July 10, 2008. On September 24, 2008, the Supreme Court granted review, directed us to vacate our order denying the…