Attempted Murder Is Crime Of Moral Turpitude

J. Michael Farren has been disbarred by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

…Mr. Farren was convicted of, among other things, attempted murder in violation of C.G.S. §§ 53a-49 (a)(2) and -54a (a), which is a crime that “requires a finding of the specific intent to cause death.” State v. Murray, 757 A.2d 578, 583 (Conn. 2000). In examining a crime requiring the same intent to kill, this court deemed it to be “self-evident” that murder is a crime of moral turpitude per se for purposes of attorney discipline. See In re Carpenter, 891 A.2d 223, 223-24 (D.C. 2006) (concluding that murder for pecuniary gain under C.G.S. § 53a-54 (b) is a crime of moral turpitude per se because it requires proof of the specific intent to cause death and noting that “[f]irst-degree murder . . . offends the generally accepted moral code of mankind” (citation omitted)). We hold that Mr. Farren’s crime of attempted murder is also one of moral turpitude per se and, as a result, one that requires disbarment under D.C. Code § 11-2503 (a).

The Stamford Advocate reported on the sentencing

Farren picked up his wife by the throat, threw her across the room and struck her head and face as many as 10 times with a heavy metal flashlight, according to testimony during his trial in early July. He strangled her more than once during the attack, causing her to lose consciousness.

She lost a significant amount of blood, suffered a broken jaw and cheek bone as well as deep cuts to her head that left her skull visible, and tufts of hair had been wrenched off her scalp, a doctor said on the stand. Her smile is now crooked from the nerve damage to her right cheek from the attack.

On July 1, Farren, 61, who was an attorney serving in both Bush White Houses and a general counsel for Xerox Corp., was convicted by a six-person jury of attempted murder, first-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Does anyone find it remarkable that there is a D.C. precedent for this proposition?

The case involved, believe it or not,  another D.C. admitted attorney convicted of murder in Connecticut.

Thankfully, this court has not had to consider before, in regard to attorney discipline, whether first-degree murder is a crime of moral turpitude per se. But the answer is self-evident. First-degree murder —including murder for pecuniary gain—”offends the generally accepted moral code of mankind.”

I had argued the issue in the high-profile Ruthann Aron case when I was at Bar Counsel.

Unfortunately, she consented to disbarment after full briefing and oral argument. (Mike Frisch)