The Los Angeles Daily Journal reported on the March 10 acquittal of Oren Tepper, a Los Angeles real estate lawyer represented by Louis J. Shapiro. A jury acquitted Mr. Tepper of all 14 fraud charges against him, accepting the defense that he had trusted information given to him by his father, who was ultimately convicted. Co-defendants in the case had pleaded guilty and reached agreements with the attorney general’s office.
Speaking to the Daily Journal, Mr. Shapiro attributed the result in part to a focus group of 20 people recruited through a Craigslist advertisement, which he used to test and refine his trial strategy. Mr. Tepper called the verdict “a vindication of not only myself but more importantly the truth and the justice system itself.”
People v. Dan Tepper et al., LACBA484182 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 3, 2020). Article by Jonathan Lo, Los Angeles Daily Journal, page 4, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
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By Jonathan Lo, Daily Journal Staff Writer. Los Angeles Daily Journal, page 4, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
A Los Angeles jury acquitted a real estate lawyer of 14 fraud charges, accepting his defense that he had trusted information given to him by his father, who was ultimately convicted.
Oren Tepper, represented by sole practitioner Louis J. Shapiro, was acquitted on March 10 of receiving stolen property and forging documents to steal an elderly woman’s identity and home.
Tepper maintained he was innocent, that he was not aware he purchased a stolen home in foreclosure proceedings from someone to whom his father introduced him. He said his father vouched for false documents that were used to negotiate down seven-figure loans attached to the house.
The father, Daniel Tepper, pleaded guilty last year to real estate fraud and was sentenced to several years in prison. Other co-defendants also pleaded guilty and struck deals with the attorney general’s office, which involved testifying against Oren Tepper, according to Shapiro.
Oren Tepper was the only defendant who pleaded innocent.
“The prosecution didn’t have any direct evidence that the client was aware of the fraud but argued that a real estate lawyer had to have known that real estate fraud had been conducted on a property that he owned, especially by his father,” Shapiro said in a statement.
The Department of Justice went through more than 200,000 emails but not one could show his client was aware of any fraudulent activity surrounding the house, Shapiro added.
Shapiro said the jury acquitted his client on all charges because they empathized with his filial trust and lack of motive for risking everything he worked for professionally for such a comparatively small reward. People v. Dan Tepper et al., LACBA484182, (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 3, 2020).
“It was a vindication of not only myself but more importantly the truth and the justice system itself,” Oren Tepper said in a lengthy statement. “However … there are fundamental cracks and imperfections in the system that must be remedied. The impact it had on me, which was massive, pales in comparison to those who are charged in their own respective cases and don’t have the means or support to fight. … There are those innocent who don’t have the means.”
“If for nothing else, if this case can serve as a tool to highlight these injustices, particularly as they relate to the underserved and underprivileged, then that would be the ultimate vindication for me in this case,” the statement concluded.
Shapiro attributed the victory, in part, to the strategy of employing a focus group made up of people found through a Craigslist ad. He said he gathered a group of 20 to listen to Oren Tepper’s story, ask questions, give their opinion on whether he is innocent and explain why. Shapiro said the group understood and agreed with his client’s faith in his father, and that reasoning led to his trial strategy of emphasizing Oren Tepper’s trust in his parent.
jonathan_lo@dailyjournal.com