Trial to Begin for Attorney Accused of 'Civil Disobedience' Foreclosure Break-in

A San Diego attorney who allegedly advised a Newport Beach man to repossess a house the man lost to foreclosure is scheduled to face trial Tuesday on charges of vandalism, second-degree burglary, unlawful entry of a dwelling and resisting and obstructing a police officer.

If convicted, Michael Theodore Pines, 59, could be sentenced up to to a year in jail and $10,000 in fines. He has already been declared ineligible to practice law.

Co-defendant and former homeowner Rene Hector Zepeda, 72, pleaded no contest Monday to one misdemeanor count of trespassing. Zepeda was ordered to pay $435 in restitution and will testify at Pines’ trial, according to prosecutors.

Zepeda owned a Newport Coast home at 19 Coral Cay until July 2009, when he lost it to foreclosure. In 2010, he hired Pines as his attorney.

Instead of trying to fight the foreclosure in court, Pines told Zepeda it was illegal and advised him to break in and repossess the home, prosecutors said.

Pines alerted reporters and a real estate agent hired by the bank as a trustee that he and Zepeda would try to break into the home Oct. 13, 2010, according to prosecutors.

The real estate agent called Newport Beach police.

On the morning of Oct. 13, 2010, Pines is accused of driving with Zepeda and a locksmith to the Newport Beach home with
the intention of breaking into the house. At the site, police advised the men they could be arrested if they illegally entered the property, which was now owned by the bank.

In front of the officers, Pines allegedly instructed Zepeda to ignore the officers’ warning and break in. Zepeda and Pines then allegedly broke a window to gain entrance to the house. They were arrested, cited, and released.

In June, Pines' law license was suspended. In his ruling, the state bar court judge said Pines viewed himself as "a modern-day Henry David Thoreau, who encouraged civil disobedience to effect universal societal benefits, including ending slavery and war. But [Pines] is not Thoreau, and his cause is not slavery or war. [Pines] sought a few minutes of fame in front of reporters or the television cameras while he violated the law, or encouraged his clients to do so.''

Pines is representing himself in this trial. He also faces criminal charges in separate cases in Ventura and San Diego Counties.

-- City News Service contributed to this story.