Without Delay
A single justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court entered an order in a disciplinary matter
This Bar Discipline is before the Court to consider a stipulated waiver of Grievance Commission proceedings filed May 16, 2016. The waiver was signed by Deputy Bar Counsel and an attorney representing Mr. Sineni. Shortly after the waiver was received by the Court, the attorney representing Mr. Sineni died.
Thereafter, the Court, through the Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court, has inquired of the parties and of the law firm that had represented Mr. Sineni as to whether the representation was going to continue or new counsel was going to appear and whether the parties were prepared to proceed based on the waiver. No definitive answer to these questions has been received. The matter should not be delayed further pending resolution of this uncertainty.
The court returned the matter to the Board of Bar Overseers for the filing of a disciplinary information and dismissed the stipulated waiver without prejudice.
This report from the Portland Press Herald may be related
A well-known criminal defense attorney was convicted of two misdemeanor charges Monday as part of a plea agreement in which five other charges, mostly felonies in what started as a domestic violence case, were dismissed.
Anthony J. Sineni III, 52, of Standish sought to restrict media coverage of the case against him in the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland and persuaded a judge to order the media not to report what he or any witnesses said in court.
Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz, the deputy chief of the state’s district court, told members of the media as the hearing began what they could and could not report.
A reporter for the Portland Press Herald protested the order and asked for time to contact legal counsel. Moskowitz denied the request and said the hearing would proceed without delay, declaring that anyone who did not agree to comply with his order to report only what the prosecutor and Sineni’s attorney said would be ejected from the courtroom.
After the judge’s exchange with the media, Sineni entered a plea in which he didn’t admit any wrongdoing but acknowledged there was enough evidence to find him guilty to charges of assault and disorderly conduct.
In exchange for the plea, one misdemeanor count of domestic violence assault against Sineni, for allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend, was dismissed along with three felony counts of witness tampering and a felony count of possession of a stolen gun or guns.
Under the terms of the sentence, the disorderly conduct charge would be dismissed after one year and the assault charge would be dismissed after two years if Sineni stayed out of trouble.
The Press Herald had this follow up story. (MIke Frisch)