Prosecutor Suspended
The Indiana Supreme Court ordered a 30-day suspension of a former prosecutor for intervening on behalf of his business partner’s criminal client
During all relevant times, Respondent was the elected Marion County Prosecutor. The charges in this case arise from Respondent’s business relationship with former criminal defense attorney Paul Page. That relationship included a limited liability corporation (“LLC”), formed in connection with a joint real estate venture, in which Respondent held a 50% membership interest.
As an elected prosecutor, Respondent was required to file a Statement of Economic Interests annually with the Commission on Judicial Qualifications. In the Statement Respondent filed for calendar year 2008, Respondent failed to disclose his financial interest in the LLC. The Disciplinary Commission charged Respondent with violating Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(c), which proscribes conduct involving “dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.” However, the HO found the evidence undisputed that Respondent’s omission was inadvertent and accordingly found no violation in this regard.
Separately, in early 2009 Page was representing an individual (“Mobareki”) facing several drug charges in Marion County, the most serious of which was a class B felony. The deputy prosecutors handling the case, including the chief deputy of the narcotics division, had worked out a tentative agreement with Page that called for Mobareki to plead guilty to a class C felony and forfeit $17,550 in cash that had been seized at the time of Mobareki’s arrest. However, Page brought the matter directly to Respondent, who then intervened and instructed his deputies to allow Mobareki to plead guilty to a class D felony (with eligibility for alternate misdemeanor sentencing) and to return a portion of the seized cash to Mobareki. Intervention of this nature was highly unusual; the chief deputy indicated he had never previously been given such an instruction by Respondent in a narcotics case, and both deputies knew of no reason to reduce the lead charge to a class D felony or to return any of the seized funds, as they felt the case against Mobareki was very strong. Based on these events, the Commission charged Respondent with violating Professional Conduct Rule 1.7(a)(2), which generally prohibits representation of a client if “there is a significant risk that the representation . . . will be materially limited by . . . a personal interest of the lawyer,” and the hearing officer concluded the evidence was clear and convincing that Respondent violated this rule.
During the Commission’s investigation of the Mobareki matter, Respondent told the Commission that the deputy prosecutors had offered Mobareki a plea to a class D felony prior to Respondent’s intervention. Based on this, the Commission charged Respondent with a second Rule 8.4(c) violation, alleging this statement was knowingly false. While the statement was not accurate, the HO found insufficient evidence it was knowingly false and accordingly found no violation in this regard.
The court accepted the conclusions and proposed sanction of the hearing officer.
Indystar had a story about the prosecutor and a prior sanction
The Indiana Supreme Court previously disciplined Brizzi for making inappropriate comments regarding two cases during his tenure as prosecutor and ordered him to pay $2,500 in court and investigative costs.
The disciplinary commission accused Brizzi of making prejudicial comments in a 2006 news release about the Hamilton Avenue mass murders and during a 2008 news conference about convicted serial killer Bruce Mendenhall.
Brizzi said during a 2011 hearing that he stands by his comments.
But the court found that some of Brizzi’s comments in the 2006 news release crossed the line. Brizzi said he “would not trade all the money and drugs in the world for the life of one person, let alone seven,” and that one of the suspects in the Hamilton Avenue mass murders “deserves the ultimate penalty.”
(Mike Frisch)