Coke in the Courthouse Costs Counsel 90 Days

When you're cokehead CDL defending a high profile accused murderer and the police investigator and lab technician are hanging out where you're hanging (the lawyer's lounge, for instance) you might want to consider not sniffing cocaine at the conference table during recesses in the court proceedings.

The Legal Profession blawg reports, this morning, on the a Twin-Cities based lawyer's Charles Ramsey's (pic) earned a 90-day suspension for Cocaine possession following his arrest in January 2009. 

Ramsey was defending a murder suspect in a high profile cold case prosecution when the police investigator and lab tech noticed cocaine residue and Ramsey wandering around sniffing like he might have been tooting.  Upon this suspicion other police took the CDL into custody and a search turned up 5 grams of cocaine.  The criminal trial came to a screeching halt, Ramsey went to jail, and has according to the disciplinary case, successfully entered recovery for his cocaine addiction. 

The client, accused murderer, Jack Nissalke, was convicted following a retrial 6 months later, now represented by different counsel.

Martin Frost: Ex-Congressman, Lawyer, Proud Thief



Martin Frost

Tristan Hallman a reporter for the Washington, D.C. bureau of the Dallas Morning News is marveling over ex-congressman, and lawyer, Martin Frost's admission in a Politico essay to his theft of photos from the photo morgue at the Dallas Morning News.  This is what Frost had to say:

"The story about female public figures and photos is not new, unfortunately. About 40 years ago, I clerked for a terrific federal judge, Sarah Hughes (pic), who was 74 at the time. She often complained when The Dallas Morning News ran unflattering photos of her.


Judge Sarah Hughes



This went on for a while. One day I went down to the paper’s photo morgue — where a publication’s pictures were kept on file — and I took some of the offending photos. This was before digital photographs — so once a picture was gone, it was really gone."

Judge Hughes is a significant historical figure having administered the oath of office to LBJ aboard Air Force One following the assassinatio of John F. Kennedy.
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Pretty obnoxious bit of bragging by Mr. Frost.  Could cost him a disciplinary hit--not the underlying act, but the bragging about it.

Back to the Future?

Louisiana Lawyer, Christian Goudeau represented a client in a claim against the Lousiana Patient's Compensation Fund.  While the claim was pending Goudeau's client died which in many instances and most states operates to abate the claim.  Did Goudeau give up the ghost?  Nah, we wouldn't be writing about him if he did...would we? 

In fact, Goudeau continued trying to negotiate a claim for his deceased client going so far to argue that the expired-client should receive compensation for future medical expenses!  Love it.

At the link, the recommendation of the Louisiana disciplinary authorities with all credit to the Legal Profession blawg.

Truth from the NYT Obituary of Richard H. Poff, Retired Virginia Supreme Court Justice

Congressman Richard Poff

As a young man of this era,  I confess some embarrassment at not remembering Richard H. Poff a Virginia Congressman that Richard Nixon nearly nominated to the US Supreme Court in 1971 to replace Justice Hugo O. Black, Lewis Powell received the nomination instead.  Poff who died Tuesday at age 87, withdrew from consideration because he was ashamed of his anti-civil rights voting record especially his publicly-professed segregationist views.  Poff aggressively abandoned those views and engaged in a remarkable public mea culpa over his calculated segregationist politics which he shared with his generation of Southern republicans. 

Poff said, "I can only say that segregation is wrong yesterday, segregation was never right.  But is is one of the most lamentable frailties of mankind that when one's wrong is most grievous, his self-justification is most passionate, perhaps in the pitiful hope that the fervor of his self-defense will some how prove him right.  But this doesn't make it so.  And he doesn't foll himself."

Last week, I had the occasion to formally revisit some of my worst professional misconduct dating back to 2003-7 with precisely the same feeling of self-loathing.  No one, can punish you for a moral or ethical wrong more than you yourself can, if you have the capacity to be honest.   Richard Poff went on to redeem his error, I fervently hope to retain at least the hope that I might someday be able to.  We'll see.

Attorney Michael S. Wade, You Got a Problem, Dude

Lousiville, Ky attorney Michael S. Wade is in a world of hurt for some pretty low brow shiat.  He's under arrest for something like the second time in a couple of days for walking into various local jails loaded down with H, and other stolen stuff.  Here's reporter Charlie White's story for the Courier-Journal:

A Louisville attorney arrested Wednesday while visiting his client at the Bullitt County Detention Center is facing additional charges of trafficking in heroin and prescription drugs and receiving stolen property.

Michael S. Wade, 31, of Middletown, remains in the jail on a $50,000 cash bond, which was increased from $5,000 when he was arraigned in Bullitt Circuit Court on the new charges Friday.

County Jailer Martha Weaver-Knox said jail officers found a syringe in the jail during a routine random search early Wednesday morning and began investigating how the needle got into the jail.
Information led them to Wade, who returned to the jail to visit a client just before noon Wednesday. Officers patted him down and found heroin, tobacco and rolling papers, Weaver-Knox said.
Kentucky State Police initially charged Wade with promoting contraband within the jail and possession of a controlled substance.

On Thursday, state police got a search warrant and began searching his vehicle in the jail parking lot, where they found heroin, syringes and prescription pills, state police said.

State police notified the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, which got a second search warrant to recover jewelry, pocket watches, a Sentry safe, ammunition and other items from Wade’s vehicle. County police believe the items were stolen in Bullitt County or Okolona.
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What is it with local news channel graphics?  Why can't they just run the mug?  Why do they surround it in this surreal graphic backgroung? 

So Michael Wade sounds like in addition to his small law practice, he was working the drug dealer, petty grifter biz in order to feed his habit.  You have no idea how much of this sort of thing goes on.  Seriously sad. 

Corrupt Mississippi Judges and Former-Attorney who Bribed them Head Back to Prison

Attorney Paul Minor (left) Judges Whitfield and Teel

Friday I brought you the story of the former Mississippi Judges and the attorney who bribed them heading back to federal court for resentencing following reversal of that part of their convictions that related to the now-unconstitutional Honest Services law.  Former judges Teel, Whitfield and attorney Paul Minor are heading back to the federal prison following reductions in their sentences.  This is an excerpt from the Clarion-Ledger's reporter Jack Elliot's account:

Former Mississippi attorney Paul Minor saw his prison time cut by three years but failed to win his freedom Monday during resentencing in a judicial corruption scheme involving two ex-judges.

ex-attorney Paul Minor

All three were ordered back to federal lock-up.

U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate rejected the men's appeal to be sentenced to time already served in the case. But Minor and former Harrison County judges Wes Teel, 60, and John Whitfield, 48, all will serve less time than when originally sentenced in 2007. All are in prison now.

Minor was originally sentenced to 11 years. Wingate reduced it to eight years.

He and the two former judges had to be resentenced because a federal appeals court vacated their bribery convictions in 2009. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld other convictions, including honest services fraud against each of the men and racketeering against Minor.

Abbe Lowell and Hiram Eastland successfully argued the federal bribery argument in the 5th Circuit that resulted in Minor's resentencing.

Prosecutors said Minor, 65, would guarantee loans for the judges, then used cash and third parties to pay off the debts. Judges then ruled in his favor in civil cases. Minor has said the loans were meant to help friends in times of need and that he expected nothing in return.

Teel was sentenced to about four years in prison, a reduction of 19 months. Whitfield got about six years, a reduction of 22 months.

Teel and Whitfield already have served about 3 1/2 years each. Minor has served about four years and nine months, including time spent in treatment for alcohol abuse - rehabilitation ordered by Wingate.

[ . . . ] Earlier Monday, Minor told Wingate that he "deeply, deeply regretted" having let down his family, including his wife, Sylvia, who died in 2009.

Minor said his wife had told him to not get involved in politics, but he didn't listen.  "I am not the Paul Minor who was before you four years ago. I am a Paul Minor who is still a work in progress," he said. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave Fulcher said after the re-sentencing that [U.S. District Judge] Wingate "made it clear that these convictions were serious offenses and the sentences were to reflect the seriousness" of them [. . . ] ingate said he was impressed by the contrition shown by the three.

"You have with your conduct earned a reduction" in the sentence, Wingate said.

Wingate said he also was concerned about the health of Teel and Whitfield. He said both men have been receiving medical treatment while incarcerated.

Teel had suffered a heart attack shortly after entering prison in December 2007 and had heart surgery in January 2008.

Whitfield suffers from Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation of the intestinal wall. There is no cure.  I am not the Paul Minor who was before you four years ago. I am a Paul Minor who is still a work in progress," he said.   [Judge W]ingate said he expected Minor to continue to get treatment for substance abuse for the remainder of his sentence and have random drug testing under the direction of prison officials.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dave Fulcher said after the re-sentencing that Wingate "made it clear that these convictions were serious offenses and the sentences were to reflect the seriousness" of them.

The government had initially requested maximum sentences for the three men. Wingate said he would not do that, resentencing all three to terms that were less than those suggested in federal sentencing guidelines.

Wingate said he was impressed by the contrition shown by the three.

"You have with your conduct earned a reduction" in the sentence, Wingate said.

Wingate said he also was concerned about the health of [former judge]Winfield. He [noted that] both men [receive] medical treatment [in the BOP.]

Teel had suffered a heart attack shortly after entering prison in December 2007 and had heart surgery in January 2008.  hitfield suffers from Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation of the intestinal wall. There is no cure.
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This story should help in my continuing effort to disabuse you of the notion that life at the Club Fed is the high life.  It is often harsh, dangerous, and certainly objectively debilitating to older inmates' health.

Postscript: one of my commentators noted accurately that the "optical orange" uniforms are provided by the local jails when federal inmates are not actually in US Marshall custody, i.e. being housed local to US District Court.  In the case of Whitfield, Teel, and Minor the local county lockup. 

Optical orange is often used in-transit for the obvious reason that in the event of escape an inmate will (initially) be highly visible.  The stocking caps given to us at FCI, Morgantown over the winter were also optical orange while the uniforms are khaki.  But when I went to the HOLE/SHU, my uniforms (really all my property) were taken and I was given an oversize optical orange jumpsuit.

Georgia Suspends Overexposed Lawyer

The Above the Law blawg has an ironic feature it calls Lawyer of the Day.  In October of 2007, ATL named Robin Meredith Levin, a former public defender who exposed himself to a 16 year old daughter of friend via webcam.  Ah, social networkind, so useful, eh?

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the Georgia Supreme Court imposed a 24 month suspension.   By the way, the AJC was also the source of the original account relied.  In the new story, the AJC tells us that Levin was a former public defender in Clayton County, Georgia. 

Another Whack-Job Government Lawyer

Over the last several days I've brought you a couple of stories about government-employed lawyers engaged in really mind-bending bullshit conduct.  This guy may take the cake, a New York lawyer engage in racial harassment, then again the lawyer stealing from the blind vendor....this is via the ABAJournal with a link to an article by Brenda Lyons and Paul Nelson at the Albany Times-Union:

"A state Department of Civil Service lawyer faces hate crime charges for allegedly threatening to kill an African-American woman and to kidnap a 'little black boy and tie him up' during two separate phone calls over the summer to people of color in his neighborhood, according to court papers.

James J. Hennessey Jr. (pic) attempted to hide the origins of the calls, which occurred on July 19 and July 21, by using a website called www.bluffmycall.com, the criminal complaint states.   Hennessey, 58, was arraigned Friday on two counts of second-degree felony aggravated harassment by Albany City Court Judge William Carter who asked him during the hearing if he could afford an attorney.

'I'm not sure but I think so,' said Hennessey, who was shackled and did not have an attorney representing him. The judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and set bail at $15,000.

He told the judge that he worked as a lawyer for the Department of Civil Service and later asked about the payment options for bail. Hennessey, who earns $104,080 a year, had posted bail by 3:30 p.m. Friday, about 90 minutes after the arraignment ended. Outside court, he declined comment when approached by a reporter. It was unclear late Friday if he had retained a lawyer.

Albany police said Hennessey told them he once worked for the New York Police Department. It's unclear if Hennessey had been an officer with the NYPD.  The criminal complaint alleges that at 10:30 p.m. on July 19, a woman on South Pine Street received a call in which Hennessey used racial slurs and expletives and told the woman that he was going to kill her. The court papers state that the woman was targeted because she is 'of African-American origin.'

Two days later at 1:30 p.m., a man on Winnie Street received a call in which the caller told him, 'we are going to kidnap the little black boy who plays outside and tie him up,' according to the criminal complaint. The papers state the man was 'selected because he is of Hispanic origin and has a dark-skinned nephew.'

Authorities were able to trace the calls to Hennessey through documents from Verizon Wireless and a Time Warner Cable account identifying Hennessey as the subscriber.  Albany police were assisted in the probe by the FBI and Albany County district attorney's office.  Police records show Hennessey filed at least two complaints with Albany police several years ago alleging someone had done damage to his home and vehicle.

Hennessey has been employed as an associate attorney with the Department of Civil Service since April 1993, according to David Ernst, an agency spokesman. Ernst on Friday said there was no change in Hennessey's status with the agency."
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On rare occasions I've come across truly irredeemably racist individuals.   A surprising number have been cops.  While I have represented many cops as well as many municipalities vis-a-vis their safety forces, and I count many cops among my current friends--there is something that I trace to education, bent of mind, and daily exposure to peril that animates this emotional defect among the police.

Stealing from the Blind

Elwood J. Walzer (real name) is a retired New Jersey attorney who according to a Debra Cassens Weiss story at the ABAJournal.com was censured for stealing from a blind courthouse vendor.  This is a link to the New Jersey Suprme Court disciplinary opinion which contains, Walzer's excuse, the vendor was an old crank who didn't like to make change.  According to Ms. Weiss' story, "[Attorneyh] Walzer was a lawyer and regulatory officer for the Department of Human Services. He was caught on a surveillance camera in the fall of 2007 taking food and beverages at least 14 times. He was not criminally prosecuted."

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Many of the State buildings and courthouses, here, in OurState have "blind" stands for purchasing refreshments or newspapaers. 

Many local news stories, like this one, make me think of Karmic justice; will Walz come back as a blind dog in is next reincarnation?  Maybe just thinking this stray though makes it so in some dimension. Remarkable to think that a lawyer working and retiring from a "human services" job could do this to another human being.

Judge to Defendant: "Um, I'd Love to Get to Know You Better, Could We Go Out?"

In the wake of the case of the Wisconsin District Attorney hitting on the domestic violence victim via text, we have a report (thak you: Legal Profession blawg) of the 3-year suspension imposed by the State of New York on the lawyer/administrative law judge (ALJ) who could not maintain boundaries as it related to a female Police Officer.   The officer had a Department of Motor Vehicle citation which she contested pertaining to her private automobile; apparently, the citation relating to her private car impacted her official status.

Here's the opinion suspending Michael H. Dorsky.  An excerpt from the opinion, gets at precisely the problem with lawyers who can not maintain professional boundaries:

"Between 1985 and March 2004, the respondent was employed as an ALJ for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (hereinafter DMV). He was assigned to the Traffic Violations Bureau in Garden City. The respondent was assigned as the ALJ to conduct a hearing involving allegations that Johnson-Murphy had been involved in an accident while driving an uninsured motor vehicle registered to her. The DMV hearing was scheduled for March 31, 2004. Prior to that date, the respondent had spoken with Johnson-Murphy over the telephone, granted her request for an adjournment, and learned that she was a New York City police officer.

On March 31, 2004, at the DMV offices, the respondent had an ex parte conversation with Johnson-Murphy outside the hearing room prior to the start of the hearing. He then conducted the DMV hearing at which Johnson-Murphy, the operator of the other vehicle involved in the accident, and a New York State police officer testified. At the hearing, the respondent had before him a notarized letter dated July 10, 2003, from Johnson-Murphy to the DMV in which she denied knowledge of the accident and asserted that her car was inoperable and parked at her residence on the date of the accident. She also provided written documentation to the respondent that the vehicle was in storage at a repair shop on the date of the accident.

After the hearing and before a written decision was provided to Johnson-Murphy, the respondent began placing telephone calls to her and either spoke with her personally or left voice-mail messages. The respondent acknowledged placing the calls, noting that Johnson-Murphy was "a person I would like to get to know better." During those calls, the respondent discussed the content of his decision with Johnson-Murphy. In a telephone conversation of April 20, 2004, the respondent discussed his decision with Johnson-Murphy and acknowledged having had previous discussions with her regarding the decision being on his desk. He acknowledged his attraction to her and indicated that he did not want to pressure her to feel that she owed him anything or might have to do something with him. During that conversation, the respondent made the following remark: 'Frankly, I wasn't even sure that you were not guilty . . . but that's neither here nor there.'  In that same conversation, the respondent admitted having previously told Johnson-Murphy that he was not supposed to have contacted her. He then confirmed plans to meet her for dinner the following evening.

In a decision signed by the respondent on April 7, 2004, he found in favor of Johnson-Murphy and directed the DMV to remove the record of the accident from her driving record."
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Eventually lawyers and judges may learn the painful truth, clients, witnesses, judicial employees are not there to massage lawyer egos. cf. Book of Daniel, Ch.13.

Coal Mine Lawyer Pulls Fast One Versus Un-represented Claimaint in Black Lung Case

Reporter Andrew Clevenger at the Charleston Gazette  reports on the disciplinary proceeding against Douglas Smoot (pic), a Big Law partner at Jackson Kelly LLP, who represented a Coal Mine operator fighting a Black Lung claim.  Smoot (who according to his law firm bio, is selected by "peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America")--altered a medical report which supporting a Black Lung claim against his client, Westmoreland Coal.  The claim involved an unrepresented miner with the mining-related respiratory disease.  The spoliation of evidence came to light after the frustrated miner finally hired an attorney.  Originally, Smoot tried to get away with giving the altered medical report to the miner.  Here's an excerpt from the Gazette story :

"An attorney for the State Bar asked [West Virginia] Supreme Court [. . . ] to suspend the law license of a black lung lawyer who removed part of a doctor's report before disclosing it to a retired miner seeking benefits in 2001. 'This conduct is deceitful. It's dishonest. It is misrepresentation,' Jessica Donahue, a lawyer with the bar's Office of Disciplinary Counsel, told the justices.

But Al Emch, a Jackson Kelly [Law Firm]  attorney who spoke on behalf of his colleague Douglas A. Smoot, insisted that the [law] governing black lung cases did not require Smoot to submit the entire report.

In 2009, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed formal charges against Smoot, alleging that he violated the state's rules for lawyers by removing part of a doctor's 2001 report before turning it over to a retired miner with an eighth-grade education who was representing himself in the black lung claim.  After a two-day hearing in June 2009, a three-member [disciplinary] panel recommended the dismissal of all charges against Smoot, concluding that his handling of the case was in compliance with applicable black lung law. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel immediately appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, Emch maintained that the part of the report that Smoot did disclose contained evidence that was highly beneficial to the retired miner, who was representing himself when Smoot's client, Westmoreland Coal Co., decided to fight his claim in 2001.

'I see nothing in [the applicable] regulation that says a partial medical report can be submitted,' said Chief Justice Robin Davis.  [Attorney] Emch countered that there was nothing in the regulation that specified what a complete report is. He said that the removal of part of the doctor's report was not misleading.
'It was altered, Mr. Emch. The report was altered,' [Chief Justice] Davis shot back.

Justice Menis Ketchum wondered why, if the information they submitted indicated that Daugherty had black lung, the coal company continued to fight the case. In the years of litigation that followed, 14 doctors examined more than 30 X-rays, Daugherty underwent 11 exams by nine different pulmonologists, and six expert witnesses were deposed, he said. 'You could have just paid him and saved a lot of money,'  Ketchum said.  Ketchum also wondered why Smoot hadn't submitted the entire report to Daugherty and the administrative law judge presiding over the case.  'Why not give the whole report to the judge and let him decide what was most probative?' Ketchum asked. [ . . .]
Justice Brent Benjamin asked how much could be removed from a doctor's report before it could no longer be called a report, as it was in the cover letter that accompanied the submission of the partial report to Daugherty and the administrative law judge. 

Donahue argued that it was deceitful, and therefore an ethical violation, not to indicate that portions of the report had been removed. 'They took the report and tore it apart and only submitted the part they liked,'  she said. 'It is somewhat plausible to say that the [full] report would never have come to light if [Daugherty] hadn't gotten counsel.'

The litigation continued for three years after Smoot withheld part of the doctor's report.

Davis noted that when faced with a judge's order to disclose all of its information, Westmoreland decided to stop fighting Daugherty's claim.

Daugherty's lawyer, Robert Cohen, eventually pursued sanctions against Jackson Kelly from U.S. District Judge David Faber. Although Faber declined to impose sanctions, saying that a court was the wrong venue, he did forward the issue to the ODC.  'The court in no way approves the conduct of Jackson Kelly lawyers before the administrative law judge, assuming the alleged misconduct to have occurred,'  Faber wrote in his Aug. 30, 2006 order. He found Jackson Kelly's 'excuses and arguments flimsy at best.'"
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OUTRAGEOUS!

You used to see this sort of thing all the time, but huge verdicts by angry jurors, sanctions and disciplinary actions have sent a strong message.  It's hoped that the West Virginia Supreme Court sends a strong message.  As with the dirty DA case, you can bet that Smoot and his colleagues routinely pulled this sort of stunt.  It's particularly offensive when the man on the otherside is unrepresented. 

There is an important lesson, this came to light when the miner, hired a lawyer.

Longwood, Florida Lawyer Suspended

You remember Albert Ford, II, he's the Florida lawyer caught on video trashing his former client's house.  He was quite the sensation on Bad Lawyer back in July , at the link you can link to the story with the video.  The Supreme Court of Florida has issued an emergency suspension, this is reporter Jeff Weiner's update for the Orlando Sentinel:

"A Longwood lawyer arrested in July on charges of burglarizing the home of a former client has been suspended by the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar announced Tuesday.  Albert E. Ford II was arrested after police said he burglarized the home of Kasee Singh, a former client. Documents show Ford and Singh were locked in a dispute over fees.

'According to a petition for emergency suspension,' The Florida Bar said in a statement Tuesday, 'Ford appeared to be causing great public harm by engaging in threatening behavior toward a former client.'

Florida Bar spokeswoman Karen Kirksey said Ford's suspension will remain in effect 'until further order.'  Police say Ford, who specialized in environmental and land-use issues, was caught on surveillance video damaging Singh's Lake Mary house. Ford also sent Singh threatening text messages, police say."
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I confess, personally, to feeling low of spirit, so pardon me if I do not keep the pace I set in August.  I'll have some personal posts about directions and the path to wisdom not that I ever had much myself.  But I'm getting there.  Slowly.

Constable, You Ain't No Stinkin' Cop

Matthew Kemeny at the Patriot-News (Pa.) reports on the "fake cop" who appears to have used his constable's badge to hit on some local women:

"It will be up to a jury to decide if a South Hanover Township state constable broke the law when he questioned three women in two separate incidents in May in Lower Paxton Township, a Dauphin County District Judge ruled today.  Jack Garner, 54, (pic) is accused of impersonating a police officer and official oppression when he followed female drivers to their destinations, flashed his badge to them and asked for their license, registration and personal information. He also asked a passenger in one of the vehicles for her information, police said.

Share Charges of false imprisonment were dismissed by Judge Joseph Lindsey, but he bound over the other charges to county court.   Two women testified at this afternoon's preliminary hearing that they were scared when confronted by Garner.

Andrea Sherman, 18, said Garner followed her to her parents' home off Union Deposit Road and told her he saw her cut off another driver. She said he pulled up behind her in her driveway before approaching her, showing his badge and asking for her information.   Another woman, Lauren Christen, 22, said Garner pulled his gold Ford Taurus behind her car as she and three other women were returning to Empire Beauty School from lunch. Garner accused Christen and Jessica Bender, of littering -- flicking their cigarettes out the window -- as they were driving back from Applebee's, she testified.

Garner asked for Christen and Bender's addresses and phone numbers and said he couldn't issue a warning because he wasn't in uniform, she testified.   Garner's attorney, Bryan Walk, said he doesn't believe what his client did rises to the level of a criminal act. He also argued his client never intimidated, threatened or flirted with the women.

As a condition of bail, Garner cannot serve as a constable until the case is resolved, the judge ruled."
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There was an up and coming part-time, Municipal Court judge in a 'burb of OurTown who practiced domestic relations/family law for his day job.  This guy had it going on, he was handsome, well-dressed and he was a rising star. But "the Judge" could not resist trolling the hallways of the old court house where the domestic relations courts are located, looking for women waiting to have their divorce cases to be called for hearing.  This clown would use his insider status to obtain the names and phone numbers of soon-to-be single women.  Bearing in mind that these are some of the most vulnerable people, this "Judge" exploited them. 

The lawsuit my client brought against him helped end his judicial career.

Lawyer Who Rented Dead Man's Condo And Kept the Money, Gets 8 Months

The Louisville Courier-Journal is reporting that lawyer Robert Snyder, a member of a prominent Kentucky family was sentenced to 8 months for mail fraud stemming from collecting the rents from the condo rentals of a dead client.  This is reporter Andrew Wolfson's story:

Louisville lawyer Ronald Snyder, the brother of the late U.S. Rep. Gene Snyder, was sentenced to eight months in jail on Monday for mail fraud.  Snyder's sentence came despite letters written on his behalf from two dozen people, including former U.S. Attorney Joe Whittle.  Snyder admitted in May that he continued to rent out a man's condominium for nearly 12 years after the man's death and kept the money. The government said Snyder, 71, received at least $15,000 in rental payments. The tenants mailed the payments to Snyder.

Snyder's lawyer, Charles E. Ricketts Jr., sought probation, citing Snyder's medical condition and alcohol dependence. Ricketts also said his client has experienced 'scorn and shame' from having to admit his crime in the courthouse (pic) named for his 'beloved brother.'  But U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman sentenced him to jail, fined him $5,000 and ordered him to pay $15,000 in restitution.

The maximum sentence on the charge was 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  Snyder, who lives in Fisherville, admitted that from 1998 until last August, he fraudulently rented the condo at 428 Sprite Road, which had been owned by Robert Cornett, who died in 1993.  According to a news release issued by U.S. Attorney David J. Hale in May, Snyder “knowingly” failed to locate Cornett's heirs.

Ricketts had said no relatives showed up for Cornett's funeral, and Snyder, a family friend, maintained and rented out the property, keeping it in Cornett's name.  Seeking probation for Snyder, Ricketts said in court papers that he spends 90 percent of every day in bed or on a couch and can only move with the assistance of a walker or a wheelchair.  Ricketts said in May that Snyder is surrendering his law license, although Kentucky Bar Association records show he is still licensed and in good standing.  Louisville police have said Snyder's scheme was discovered after he sought a reduction in property taxes on the condo based on his age and it was discovered he didn't own the property.
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Uh, chutzpah?  Did I use that correctly?

Lawyer on Lawyer Crime

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that a Myrtle Beach lawyer is going to prison for 3 year following his guilty plea for trying to hire someone to kill a colleague.  Now, I don't care how pissed you are at opposing counsel, this seems slightly extreme.  The Observer's report follows:

"A South Carolina attorney will spend three years in prison after pleading guilty to trying to hire someone to kill another lawyer.  Multiple media outlets reported that 59-year-old Irby Walker was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to solicitation to commit a felony.  Walker was arrested in September after authorities said he tried to hire someone to kill Doug Thornton, another Conway attorney.

In September, police say they recorded conversations Walker had with another person about how much Walker would be willing to pay to have Thornton killed. The men have known each other since 1982. Thornton said he shared an office with Walker until 2006."
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Oh, they shared an office.  Bet there's an argument over fees or who owes on the copier contract.

The more comprehensive story is at the link to the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

Big Law Boys Get a Big Break

Two former Big Law Associates who already got huge break son charges of rape from a 2005 drunken 3-way, get a further break when the Illinois disciplinary authorities assess short suspensions of heir licenses. 

The original Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel reported the first big break as follows: 

"Nobody but the two Chicago men and the woman from Berlin knows for certain exactly what happened at the private boat landing on Green Lake in early morning of Aug. 7, 2005.  The 29-year-old woman says the two men - then both attorneys at prominent Chicago law firms - held her down on the hood of her car and cheered each other on as they repeatedly raped her.

The two men say what happened was consensual sex.

The undisputed facts after that night, from the bail amounts and the plea bargains to the minimal sentences and the district attorney's resignation, have some locals in this small tourist town 30 miles west of Fond du Lac wondering if justice was served or if two big-city attorneys got a 'good-ole-boy' break.

The woman met the two men, Stephan Addison (top pic) , 28, of Medinah, Ill., and Benjamin Butler (bottom pic), 29, of Chicago - both 2004 graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School - at a bar in Ripon. The men told her they were attorneys, and as the bar was closing the woman agreed to give them a ride to a lake house owned by Addison's family. She was sober, she later told authorities. [ . . . ] As they drove, the men groped her, pulled at her clothes and made sexually explicit comments, according to the criminal complaint. Once the car was parked at a boat landing near the house, she said, the men bit her, pulled her hair, tore off her clothes, dragged her from the car and pushed her onto the hood, where they raped her and forced her to perform oral sex. After she broke free and tried to get back in the car, she said, Addison pushed her face-down on the hood and raped her again.

Addison and Butler say the woman was 'playful' and 'having fun the whole time.'

Then in December 2006, Green Lake County District Attorney James Camp and the defense struck a deal reducing the charges for both men to reckless endangerment of safety and sexual gratification in public.  The reduction dropped the amount of prison time each faced from 60 years for each count of sexual assault to 10 years for reckless endangerment. Camp requested nine months in jail for Addison and six months for Butler.
In another move that stunned the town, McMonigal stayed prison sentences and sentenced Addison to 500 hours of community service and 30 days in jail with work release. Butler got 300 hours of community service. Neither had to register as a sex offender."

Debra Cassens Weiss at the ABAJournal.com reports the disciplinary break:

"An Illinois hearing board has recommended short suspensions for two former BigLaw associates for their conduct during a long day of partying in Wisconsin that ended with a sexual encounter and allegations of rape.  The hearing board report recommends a 60-day suspension for Stephan Addison, who formerly worked at Seyfarth Shaw, and a 30-day suspension for Benjamin Butler, who had worked at Schiff Hardin. Addison now has a solo legal practice and is a consultant for a private equity company, while Butler is a solo and an independent contractor with Collins, Bargione and Vuckovich. Both are 2004 graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School."

The disciplinary opinion is at the link.
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Narcissistic assholes.

Ron Plunkett Update--Guilty in Drug Death

Bad Lawyer previously relayed the sordid tale of Ann Arbor, former prosecutor and defense attorney Ron Plunkett's who's life descended into druggy hell.  Reporter Lee Higgins for AnnArbor.com is reports that Plunkett (pic) entered a guilty plea to charges relating to the provision of drugs that resulted in the death of his girl friend's girl friend in his bedroom:

"A former [Ann Arbor] defense attorney accused of paying for and transporting the heroin that caused the death of an Ypsilanti woman in 2006 pleaded guilty today to drug charges. Ronald James Plunkett, 53, pleaded guilty this afternoon in Washtenaw County Circuit Court to delivery of less than 50 grams of cocaine and maintaining a drug house.

He admitted to giving someone cocaine at his Fuller Court apartment on June 16, 2006 - the day 22-year-old Tiffany Gregory collapsed there and died after consuming a combination of alcohol, cocaine and heroin. Gregory was a medic in the Army National Guard and was scheduled to deploy to Iraq later that year.

'That day I allowed three people to come there and use drugs at [my] house,' Plunkett told Judge Melinda Morris.

Plunkett also admitted he allowed people to use drugs at his home before and after that date. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, charges of delivery of heroin causing death and delivery of less than 50 grams of heroin will be dismissed.

Tracy Corson, 25, of Howell, who was Plunkett's girlfriend [according to the Michigan Supreme Court opinion reinstating his drug charges, a Livonia prostitute] at the time of the death, already served two years in prison in the case after pleading guilty to delivery of a controlled substance causing death.  Plunkett's case has been delayed numerous times due to legal challenges over the relatively new law allowing prosecutors to charge people with providing drugs that caused a death.

The Washtenaw County circuit judge and state appellate judges that reviewed the case determined there was not enough probable cause for Plunkett to stand trial. But the state Supreme Court reinstated felony drug delivery charges and refused to reconsider that decision earlier this year.

Plunkett faces a maximum of 23 months in prison[.]"

Dick Move: Lawyer Outing Transgendered Former Client

The following story is courtesy of the Houston Press, and reporter Craig Malisow:

The case of whether a fallen Wharton firefighter's benefits should go to his transgender widow (pic, left) just gets exponentially weirder: Frank Mann (pic, below), the lawyer representing Thomas Araguz's ex-wife, is facing investigation by the State Bar of Texas's disciplinary office for a possible ethics violation related to an e-mail he sent 'outing' the widow, Nikki Araguz, during her mayoral campaign.

Mann represented Araguz and her first husband in a 2002 bankruptcy case. Earlier this year, he represented Heather Delgado, Thomas Araguz's ex-wife, in a bitter custody dispute, and is now representing her in a motion to void Nikki's and Thomas' 2008 marriage. In an April deposition of Nikki Araguz, Mann got her to admit that she was born Justin Graham Purdue; he also asked about her medical history. Mann then used the information in a May 6 e-mail titled 'Public Information on Nikki Araguz who is running for Mayor of Wharton, Texas.'

He would not say how many people he sent the e-mail to, but it became public during Araguz's race for Wharton mayor this spring  Mann's e-mail kicks off with 'Occasionally you get a case that makes the papers or Jerry Springer,' and just gets classier from there.  '..I am sending this to you because you are a friend of mine and the deposition is public knowledge. I think the citizens of Wharton Texas should know this information....Nikki Purdue Araguz is the stepmother in a case of mine and she gave testimony that she is a transgender. She is a he. Her birth certificate states that she is male. She has multiple felony convictions in Harris County...and is on probation in Wharton County for possession of a controlled substance.'

That bit in ellipses? That's where he disclosed a portion of her medical history.

Mann signed off with, 'If you would like to discuss this with me, call me on my cell...' (You can see more discussion on this e-mail on the YouTube page of Cristan Williams, executive director of the Transgender Foundation of America).

Nikki Araguz filed a complaint with the State Bar of Texas. It appears the complaint was initially dismissed, but that on June 29 the Board of Disciplinary Appeals granted Araguz's appeal and issued her a letter stating it would "return the case to the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for investigation and a determination whether there is just cause to believe that the attorney has committed professional misconduct." The Board's letter indicates that the investigation would center on rules 1.05 and 1.06 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, which deal with client confidentiality and conflict of interest. (The paperwork indicates that Mann has 30 days to respond to Araguz's complaint before an investigation would begin).

It's not Mann's first dance with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel: in 1990, Mann agreed to a fully probated 36-month suspension for 'misrepresentations of fact concerning the dates of his hospitalization for alcohol and substance abuse in an affidavit offered in support of a motion to retain.' (The suspension was stayed; he was allowed to actively practice, but was placed on probation.) The Office of Disciplinary Counsel also ruled that, in one case, Mann 'assigned away 100 percent of any attorney's fees' and then 'intervened in the pending lawsuit, claiming an interest in attorney's fees.' In 1997, Mann was suspended for five and a half years and was not eligible to practice for the first 36 months. In that case, among other things, the Counsel found that Mann's paralegal 'affixed [a] client's signature from a prior document to a proposed modification, without the client's consent.' Mann wasn't in the office at the time, but he was 'responsible for supervision and instruction of his staff and for ensuring that his staff follows the law and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.'

Mann [claims] that all of the information in his May 6 e-mail was gleaned from the deposition, and not from his earlier representation of Araguz and her first husband. He said all the information was public and he was only releasing it because the people of Wharton had the right to know about a mayoral candidate's criminal record. (Although Mann told us he was more concerned about Araguz's drug and theft convictions and not her sexual identity, the e-mail itself indicates otherwise.)

We're not clear on what a person's medical history has to do with running for mayor in a town of 10,000. We're also not clear why Mann felt obligated to share this information. Lastly, we wonder if he regularly e-mails his pals about shit that comes up in depositions and invites people to call him on his cell for more gossip.

'I think that people needed to know information about her background of felony convictions for theft....the people in Wharton, Texas, did not know anything about her background,' Mann said.  He also said that, when he represented Nikki Araguz in the 2002 bankruptcy, he did not know anything about her sexual identity and only focused on financial matters. 'I was informed from my client, Heather Delgado, about rumors about Nikki,'  Mann said"
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This is simply said, the story of a lawyer lacking the character and fitness to be a lawyer in most states lets say--other than Texas.  Frank Mann took sensational information about a former client and used it against her in a matter clearly presenting the sort of conflict of interest where under any normal circumstance he should have declined representation.  Then Mann disclosed confidential information obtained against the former client to torpedo her campaign for public office.

This guy is a menace and a disgrace.  Of course, this is also Texas where the Clerk's office doesn't remain open to stay the execution of someone needin' executin' or where an inmate who spends 27 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, might just spend another day or two if he gets a little rowdy when the deputies clamp cuffs and leg irons on him while they walk him into the courtroom to be released.  The Republic of Texas is a wondrous place . . . it ain't Kansas, Toto.

Mo. Lawyer Mows Down Local Man, Keeps on Going

According a report at the Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader:

An attorney from Mexico, Mo., is facing two charges in the hit-and-run death of man who was on a lawn mower. Mexico Public Safety Assistant Director Brice Mesko says James A. Clampitt was arrested Friday on charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident [on a Audrain County arrest warrant.]

The arrest came after a driver of an SUV hit and killed Richard Cobb on June 13.  Clampitt told KXEO radio earlier this year that he was driving the vehicle but said he was unaware until the next day that his vehicle had been involved in an accident.

Clampitt is free on a $100,000 personal bond.
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One can probably safely assume that the victim, Mr. Cobb, was not mowing at night, so one naturally wonders how it is that Mr. Clampitt will explain the concept of not knowing he killed Mr. Cobb who was astride a riding mower.  The further mystery is how it is that the radio station KXEO knew to ask Clampitt about the MVA (motor vehicle accident) and yet it took the local constabulary 6 weeks to get around to arresting the attorney?. 

I suspect that Mr. Clampitt was liquored-up (or in some other sort of altered state) when this killing occurred; and, that lawyer, Clampitt,  made the strategic legal decision that it was better not to report the accident, contemporaneously, for fear of what his blood tests would reveal.  We shall see.