About me
Haydeh Takasugi has been a Los Angeles County Public Defender since 1996. She spent most of her early career as a trial attorney in the Central District. In her various leadership roles within the office, she was the DIC in Eastlake Juvenile, Investigations, and trainer in both misdemeanor and felonies. Prior to becoming the Pasadena Branch and Area Head Deputy in 2019, she worked on special circumstance cases. She tried a special circumstance case to penalty twice and has handled and tried several high publicity cases. She has embraced innovation at her Pasadena branch by implementing an outdoor court program during the pandemic and supporting the Neurocognitive Disorders Unit Pilot project.
Ms. Takasugi has been the strategic leader for Strategy 1, Adult and Juvenile Trial Advocacy. She has also participated in numerous standing committees, including the Wellness Committee. She also represents the office on the L.A. Free the Vote Taskforce. She is currently the Assistant Public Defender over the Central Region which also includes recruitment and training.
Ms. Takasugi was born and raised in Iran for the first ten years of her life. Her family immigrated to the United States after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, where her father sought political asylum. She attended UCLA undergraduate and Georgetown Law School. She is a dedicated mother to Matthew (19) who is a freshman at UCSD and Kinuyo who is a third-year athlete in UMass Dartmouth. You will find her cheering her son in football and daughter in softball in her spare time.
