Helping Good People Regain Control of Their Future
When Charged With a Crime ™
June 23, 2020 eNewsletter Issue no. 44
Charged with Unlawful Assembly or Looting?
Looting
While looting is not a charge that we see often, recent events the past few months have led to many people being arrested for that offense. In its simplest form, looting consists of committing a theft or burglary during a state of emergency. Specifically pertaining to San Diego, May 30-June 1 in both La Mesa and downtown San Diego featured some of the worst looting San Diego has seen in decades Looting is a "wobbler" offense, meaning that it can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. If you are charged with looting ( PC 463), you are facing a presumptive sentence if convicted of at least 180 days and up to at least 3 years in custody. Click on the video above to hear David P. Shapiro discuss the offense of looting, as well as the potential consequences of a looting charge. A concise explanation of how we approach our defense against these charges can be found on our website.

Unlawful Assembly
With protests and demonstrations around the country, including here in San Diego, it is important to know what to do if, as a protester or merely a bystander, you are caught up in a situation and arrested or charged with unlawful assembly. When protests occur, the situation sometimes becomes chaotic, in some cases because of actions by a small number of people attending the protest, and sometimes, frankly, because of overreactions by the police. This could lead to a charge of unlawful assembly under the California Penal Code. If you find yourself facing a charge of unlawful assembly, you could be looking at, among other things, a potential jail sentence of up to 180 days. Our Firm is up to the task of defending against these charges. If, for example, you were not violent and had no intent to commit an unlawful act, or if you were unable to timely disperse when ordered to do so by the police, you may have a valid defense against the charge. To read more about how we can defend you or a loved one against unlawful assembly charges, visit our website.
Giving Back to the Community - It's What We Do
Since 2007, our firm has been serving the San Diego community, far beyond our role as criminal defense attorneys. Whether though our sponsored speaking presentations, scholarship contests, our work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Second Chance, or Genesis Recovery, service to our San Diego community is ALWAYS a core principle at the Firm. We are proud of our commitment to not only helping good people regain control of their future when charged with a crime, but simply helping people.

June 21 was the last day for David Shapiro’s quest to become the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year for 2020. While our team did not raise the most money for blood cancer research among the candidates, we were able to raise roughly $15,000. Team ”LOODPS for LLS” is proud of what we were able to accomplish under far more uncertain and tenuous circumstances than anyone could have envisioned when David was selected to be a part of the fundraising campaign in December.

Earlier in June, we were proud to host “An Evening with Death Row Exoneree Juan Melendez” on Zoom. David first met Juan in 2006 and the two have kept in contact ever since. Nearly 60 attendees participated in the June 4 virtual event, with many more streaming the discussion via Facebook Live. You can watch a replay of the event here. Many have called for the Firm to launch a bi-monthly featured speaker series, and we are in the process of setting that up, with the next event hopefully sometime mid-late July.

Covid-19 permitting, the Firm is also primed to get re-involved with Second Chance, specifically its Job Readiness Training Program. David was fortunate enough to be a part of two of the graduating classes of 2019 (Class 225 and Class 232) and looks forward to serving as “Class Champion” for Class 238 later this summer.
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San Diego, CA 92103
Phone: 619-295-3555
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This newsletter is for meant for informational and marketing purposes only, and should not be relied on as legal advice. Viewing and/or use of the newsletter, including sending email or submission of forms, does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship. Any endorsement, testimonial or other statement contained in or referred to in this newsletter is not a guarantee, a warranty or a prediction of a particular result in your case. Our attorneys are active members of the State Bar of California and are admitted to practice law in any and all California state courts and in the Southern District of California federal courts.