Meet our Staff of San Diego Criminal Defense Lawyers:

Samantha Mann

Ms. Mann completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara and graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law. Ms. Mann joined Steigerwalt & Associates in 2002 as their misdemeanor attorney. Since then, she has become the firm's Managing Attorney and carries a varied felony caseload. She negotiates and litigates felony cases including vehicular manslaughter, battery, forgery, indecent exposure, prostitution, resisting arrest, vehicle code violations, assault with a deadly weapon, as well as cases involving drug possession and sale.

Additionally, Ms. Mann is our authority in handling federal cases. She continues to maintain a significant district court caseload that permits her to litigate a wide array of cases through the motions and trial stages.

Ms. Mann has received some impressive results including, but not limited to:

DUI's- dismissed, not guilty
Felony weapon charges- dismissed
Assault with a deadly weapon- dismissed
Robbery- not guilty
Assault- not guilty
3,000 lbs. of marijuana (Federal case)- not guilty
Vehicular Manslaughter- dismissed

Ms. Mann is a valued member of our team who at all times guarantees thorough, professional, and effective representation to her clients.

Gerald E. Smith

Gerald Smith received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas and then his Juris Doctrine from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in 1993. Before his decision to pursue a career as an attorney, Mr. Smith had a highly successful career as a police officer in Texas. He achieved the rank of Sergeant and was a member of the police department's SWAT team. Mr. Smith received his instructor’s certification from Texas Commission of Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education (T.C.L.O.S.E.) and was an instructor in the department academy. After graduation from law school, he served as a prosecutor for the City of San Diego in addition to receiving experience in the civil arena. Mr. Smith now uses his knowledge and experience primarily toward defending the rights of the wrongfully accused.

Mr. Smith has handled a multitude of different types of cases, from misdemeanor cases to felony cases. He has received some impressive results including but not limited to:

DUI’s- dismissed
Felony weapon charges- dismissed
Assault with a deadly weapon- dismissed
Attempted murders- not filed
Murders- not filed
Batteries- not guilty
Felony thefts- not guilty
Felony embezzlements- not guilty
Assault on a peace officer- not guilty

Mr. Smith is a very valuable member of our team. His experience and knowledge has been an asset to each client he represents.

Daniel F. Greene

Dan Greene received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. After college, Mr. Greene worked as the Director of Business and Marketing for the Southern California offices of a Washington Post subsidiary company focusing on Education, Academics and Test Preparation. A native San Diegan, Mr. Greene left that position to pursue a law degree from California Western School of Law. As a law clerk and student intern, Mr. Greene worked for the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General and for the Federal Defenders of San Diego. After graduating, Mr. Greene served as a certified law clerk for the San Diego County Public Defender's Office.

Mr. Greene is a member of both the State Bar of California and the Federal Bar for the Southern District of California. As a highly valued member of the Steigerwalt & Associates family of trial attorneys, Mr. Greene handles a majority of the firm’s felony attempted murder, robbery, assault, battery, domestic violence, and theft-related cases. He has aggressively defended clients at trial on serious felony charges (see Highlights below), and has successfully negotiated plea bargains in cases where trial was not in the client’s best legal interests. Mr. Greene has successfully represented clients prosecuted for Attempted Murder, “Gang” Crimes, Robbery, Assault with a Firearm / Deadly Weapon, Inflicting Great Bodily Injury, Battery, Lewd Contact, Residential and Commercial Burglary, Grand Theft, Embezzlement, Prostitution, Resisting Arrest, Aiding & Abetting, Accessory, Reckless Driving, Evading Police, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol, Transportation, Sales and Possession of Narcotics and Drug Paraphernalia, etc.

In addition to defending against adult prosecutions, Mr. Greene handles both juvenile Delinquency and Dependency cases. He has also successfully represented clients for felony and misdemeanor expungements, requests for probation modifications, early termination of probation and felony reductions, as well as exclusions/exemptions related to the Department of Justice Sex Offender Website.

Dan Greene brings intelligence, hard work, enthusiasm and, most importantly, “Results” to the practice of Criminal Defense Law. He is tireless in his efforts to obtain for his clients the best legal results possible on each and every case.

Highlights include:

ATTEMPTED MURDER (GANG CASE) - - DISMISSED DAY OF TRIAL
D.V. BATTERY RESULTING IN GREAT BODILY INJURY - - NOT GUILTY
ATTEMPTED MURDER - - HUNG JURY
ASSAULT WITH A SEMI-AUTO WEAPON - - HUNG JURY
FELON IN POSSESSION OF FIREARM - - DISMISSED DAY OF TRIAL
IDENTITY THEFT / FRAUDULENT USE OF CREDIT CARD - - DISMISSED PRE-TRIAL
RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY - - DISMISSED POST-PRELIMINARY HEARING
ATTEMPTED LEWD CONDUCT WITH A MINOR - - DISMISSED POST-TRIAL
ASSAULT & BATTERY RESULTING IN GREAT BODILY INJURY - - DISMISSED AT PRELIM.
GRAND THEFT BY EMPLOYEE - - DISMISSED AFTER REVERSAL ON APPEAL

Al Macina

Joining the Steigerwalt team in 2004, Al Macina worked alongside Kerry Steigerwalt to investigate and successfully negotiate serious felony cases including murder, rape and significant financial crimes in both San Diego Superior and Juvenile court. His own case victories include case dismissals, early terminations of probation, 'not guilty' verdicts in DUI and battery jury trials and recall and reconsideration of prison sentences. He negotiates and litigates misdemeanor and felony cases including battery, DUI, forgery, indecent exposure, prostitution, resisting arrest, vehicle code violations, and assault with a deadly weapon.

Mr. Macina practices in all San Diego county courthouses and juvenile court, and often handles cases in Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino county courts. Mr. Macina holds a B.A. and minor from the University of Florida and a J.D. from California Western School of Law in San Diego. He is a member of the State Bar of California, the San Diego County Bar Association - Criminal Law Section and the San Diego County Peace Corps Association.

Heather Melone

Heather Melone completed her undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies. After graduating from UCSB in 1997, Ms. Melone joined the Peace Corps and spent the next three years in Thailand teaching about the environmental and health issues affecting the country, and securing funding for a number of community outreach projects.

Upon her return to the United States in 2000, Ms. Melone was hired with Steigerwalt & Associates as a legal assistant and has been a valuable asset to the firm ever since. Ms. Melone “worked her way up the ranks” and eventually received her Juris Doctorate degree from California Western School of Law. During law school, Ms. Melone interned for the San Diego Surfrider/Baykeeper Foundation as well as the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office.

Since relocating to San Diego, Ms. Melone has immersed herself in the local criminal justice system. She has experience with both misdemeanor and felony cases, in addition to experience in the federal and juvenile court systems. Ms. Melone’s vast array of knowledge in all areas of the criminal justice system continuously helps her to provide her clients with professional, friendly, and effective representation.

David P. Shapiro

David P. Shapiro is the most recent addition to the Steigerwalt team of attorneys, joining the firm in the fall of 2007.

Mr. Shapiro has dedicated his career to defending those accused of crimes. He graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies in 2003 and thereafter attended Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2006. David served as President of the Tulane Criminal Law Society and excelled as a student-attorney in the nationally renowned Tulane Criminal Law Clinic. In connection with his service at the Tulane Criminal Law Clinic, he advocated on behalf of inmates and criminal defendants, including prisoners whose rights had been impinged due to the collapse of the New Orleans criminal justice system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, garnering recognition in several international news documentaries in the process. David also worked for Tulane's Project for Older Prisoners (POPS) and is one of only a few student-attorneys to have successfully argued before the Louisiana State Board of Parole.

David moved to San Diego when he was selected for the highly competitive and sought after post-bar internship with the San Diego County Public Defender's Office in 2006. He also has worked with criminal defense office in his native New York City.

David cares about his clients, and strives to make a positive difference in their lives.

Kerry L. Armstrong, Of Cousel

Kerry L. Armstrong attended Middle Tennessee State University, where he received a B.S. degree in Political Science. His minors were Criminal Justice and English. He received his law degree in 1997 from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. While there, he received numerous scholastic awards, including graduating cum laude. He also held the position of senior editor, and later executive editor, of the school's law review.
Mr. Armstrong practices both adult criminal defense and juvenile delinquency law. He is the firm's senior associate, having been employed at the firm since 1996. He mostly handles major felony cases for the firm. However, he has experience dealing with every type of crime, from minor misdemeanors to murder cases. Although Mr. Armstrong handles all types of criminal cases, he emphasizes his defense on those accused of sexual offenses (ranging from lewd acts in public to violent rapes to child molest).

Mr. Armstrong has won not-guilty verdicts at jury trial on many different types of cases, including battery, domestic violence, child molest, rape, forcible oral copulation, lewd act in public, premeditated attempted murder, torture, conspiracy, sexual battery, false imprisonment, rape of an intoxicated person, gang rape, burglary, sodomy, kidnapping, forcible oral copulation, robbery, and first-degree murder (with a "special circumstance"). Other non-trial case results include having a Three-Strikes case reduced to a misdemeanor, a robbery case reduced to a misdemeanor (with no jail time), a child molestation case dismissed before trial, a spousal rape case dismissed on the day of trial, and assault with great bodily injury case reduced to a misdemeanor (with no jail time).

In September 2005, Mr. Armstrong won not-guilty verdicts in a trial where his client was accused of shooting a man to death, as well as robbing him.
In that case, the District Attorney's Office had alleged a "special circumstance" that could have led that office to seeking the death penalty against Mr. Armstrong's client.

In May and June 2006, Mr. Armstrong won back-to-back rape trials. In the first, his client was accused of raping a federal prison inmate in a correctional facility. After spending five months in custody, the client was released following the not-guilty verdicts. In the second case, Mr.
Armstrong's client was accused of gang rape, kidnapping, forcible oral copulation, sodomy, burglary, robbery, and sexual battery (23 counts in all). Following a four-week trial, the client was acquitted of all charges and was released from custody (where he had been held for over eight months).

In June 2003, Mr. Armstrong was featured on the hour-long season premiere of the reality TV show “Law & Order: Crime & Punishment” for a murder and attempted murder trial he conducted in 2002. His cases have also been featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, newspapers in most every major U.S. city, all of the local San Diego TV stations, the City Beat, and the San Diego Union-Tribune. These media cases include a man accused in a violent hate-crime attack on a migrant farm worker, a minor accused of conspiring with two other boys to kill a middle school teacher, a man accused of domestic terrorism at the San Diego federal courthouse, a man accused of firing seven shots into a truck which was attempting to run over bar patrons, a YMCA daycare provider accused of molesting four young students, and a military man accused of distributing child pornography from a Navy ship.

Mr. Armstrong uses his experience and legal skills on every case to get the best results for his clients, whether that be a plea-bargain in the client’s best interests, or a jury trial.

Proven Results

CHARGE: Multiple sex offenses by nationally-known sports coach RESULT: Probation CHARGE: Commercial Arson RESULT: Dismissed at preliminary hearing. CHARGE: Gross vehicular manslaughter, while intoxicated RESULT: Probation, with work furlough placement CHARGE: Fugitive warrant, multiple out-of-state fraud charges RESULT: Dismissed after making restitution