The Law Office of David P. Shapiro is thrilled to report that on Monday afternoon, after a two-week trial and approximately 8 hours of deliberation, an El Cajon jury found our client NOT GUILTY of all charges, including murder and manslaughter. Our client was released from custody that same afternoon, after having spent 17 months in jail awaiting trial. We would like to congratulate the entire defense team, including Managing Partner David P. Shapiro, Partner Stefano L. Molea, investigator Tonya Sabo and consultant Toni Blake.
Summary of the Trial and the Acquittal
The client, a 27-year-old Navy sailor, was found in bed with his girlfriend by the girlfriend’s estranged husband. The girlfriend and estranged husband were still living together with their two year old son despite undergoing a divorce. The husband was supposed to be on the ship overnight. Our client wakes up to the husband punching him repeatedly in the face and is told to “get the fuck out of the house.“ The client initially agrees and goes downstairs to gather his belongings. However, the client then hears what he believes to be domestic violence upstairs; he was concerned because he was previously told about domestic violence by his girlfriend at the hands of her husband. When his girlfriend and her estranged husband arrived downstairs, our client was asked to leave, at which point he replied “I’ll leave, I just don’t want you hitting her.” The estranged husband then went into a nearby bathroom and emerged with a metal pole that was part of a shower shelf tier system. He swung it towards our client and the estranged wife, eventually hitting our client in the head twice, although this was disputed by the prosecution. After a struggle ensued, the estranged husband was stabbed five times including twice in the chest and once in the back. He also suffered eight incise wounds. The client remained on scene and was ultimately arrested. Attempts to resolve the case for involuntary manslaughter proved to be fruitless, and so the case proceeded to trial. After two weeks, the jury deliberated for just under eight hours, and acquitted our client of all charges (second-degree murder and of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter). You can read more about the case in
Fox 5 San Diego and the
San Diego Union-Tribune.
