Neither A Lawyer Nor A Burglar Be

Recent discipline summaries from the California Bar Journal

Shell Kaminsky [#284216], 38, of Brentwood, was summarily disbarred effective August 22, 2018, ordered to notify clients of the discipline and perform other obligations under rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. Kaminsky pleaded no contest to a felony count of second degree burglary. Burglary is a crime involving moral turpitude. Kaminsky did not participate in the State Bar proceedings and did not provide any mitigation evidence. Kaminsky had no prior record of disciplinary matters.

Peter D. King [#282249], 41, of Livermore, was summarily disbarred effective August 22, 2018, ordered to notify clients of the discipline and perform other obligations under rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. King pleaded guilty to a felony charge of second degree burglary. Burglary is a crime involving moral turpitude. King did not participate in the State Bar proceedings and did not provide any mitigation evidence. King had no prior record of disciplinary matters.

The King Review Department report is linked here. 

He was admitted on March 20, 2012 and has been administratively suspended as of July 1, 2016 for non-payment of dues. An interim disciplinary suspension has been in effect as of December 26, 2017. 

The Kaminsky Review Department report may be found here. 

She was admitted on August 13, 2012, administratively suspended on July 1, 2015 and suspended for the crime on March 12, 2018.

Two very short careers at the Bar.

The Press Democrat had the story of an earlier arrest of Ms. Kaminsky

An East Bay lawyer charged with possessing methamphetamine and prescription pills when she tried to enter the Sonoma County courthouse claims she is the victim of an illegal search.

Shell Kaminsky, 31, of Brentwood is seeking to suppress evidence obtained during her July 17 arrest on grounds that she was not present when deputies looked in her briefcase.

In court papers, Kaminsky admits grabbing her phone and running after security guards went through her belongings and found nearly a gram of the illegal stimulant. She was arrested minutes later in a nearby parking lot.

But she said the briefcase wasn’t in her possession later when deputies retrieved it from the court entrance where she left it. They conducted another search and turned up dextroamphetamine pills.

Because the briefcase was not under her immediate control, a suppression motion filed in her defense claims that anything found in it was taken illegally and cannot be used as evidence against her.

“Ms. Kaminsky asserts the search of her briefcase was without warrant and without other legal means to justify the search,” said her lawyer, Jason Tucker, in the motion.

In their legal papers Tuesday, prosecutors argued that Kaminsky’s belongings were abandoned by her and that she no longer had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

“The subsequent search of the property she abandoned at the station is lawful,” Gomez wrote.

Kaminsky is charged with two felonies, possession of methamphetamine and possession of pills without a prescription. She’s also charged with failing to subject herself to a search upon entering a courthouse, a misdemeanor.

The later charge makes her ineligible for court-ordered drug treatment programs, Tucker said.

A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 19. The suppression issue will be decided by Judge Robert LaForge.

Any sanctions from the State Bar of California would follow a separate path. A conviction could result in a suspension of her license to practice but would not lead to automatic disbarment.

A Bar spokeswoman didn’t return a call Tuesday seeking comment.

Kaminsky, who received her license about a year ago, was representing a client in a multi-defendant assault case when she was arrested.

Prosecutors said she was walking through the north entrance to the courthouse when security guards spotted the clear plastic bag in her belongings.

Kaminsky grabbed her phone and ran. A security guard and two deputies followed her as she walked at a “faster than normal” pace across Ventura Avenue just north of Administration Drive.

She ducked behind some cars and took off her suit jacket before Deputy Michael Whiteside shouted to her, according to court papers.

He recognized her from the courthouse when she turned around. He asked her how she came to have drugs other than the prescription pills and she responded she “could imagine how it got there” but she refused to say anything else, according to court papers.

Whiteside then asked why she was walking away and she said “she didn’t want to have to deal with it in front of people,” the papers said.

(Mike Frisch)