Suspended Counsel Convicted Of Helping Client Break Into, Reclaim Foreclosed Home; Lawyer Faces Similar Charges In Neighboring Counties

In Orange County, California, North County Times reports:

• A San Diego attorney whose law license has been suspended was convicted [] of helping a client break into his foreclosed Newport Beach home. It took jurors about an hour to convict Michael Theodore Pines, 59, of vandalism, attempted second-degree burglary, the attempted unauthorized entry of a dwelling and obstructing an officer, all misdemeanors.



• After the verdicts were read, Orange County Superior Court Judge Andre Manssourian ordered deputies to handcuff Pines and take him into custody, Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce said. [...] Pines, who has been declared ineligible to practice law, faces similar misdemeanor charges in Ventura County, and felony charges in San Diego County, Pierce said.

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• Co-defendant Rene Hector Zepeda, 72, pleaded no contest before the trial started to a misdemeanor count of trespassing. He testified that thought it was OK to break into his foreclosed home, because he relied on Pines' legal advice, Pierce said.

For more, see Foreclosure attorney convicted in Orange County.