Cell Phone Erasures Draw Suspension In Idaho
A recent disciplinary sanction is summarized on the web page of the Idaho State Bar
On May 30, 2017, the Idaho Supreme Court issued a Disciplinary Order suspending Sandpoint attorney Jeremy P. Featherston from the practice of law for one (1) year, with all but ninety (90) days of that suspension withheld. The Disciplinary Order provides that upon reinstatement, Mr. Featherston will be placed on probation for one (1) year. Mr. Featherston’s ninety (90) day suspension will start June 16, 2017.
The Idaho Supreme Court found that Mr. Featherston violated I.R.P.C. 8.4(b) [Commission of a criminal act that reflects adversely on a lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects] and I.R.P.C. 8.4(d) [Engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice]. The Idaho Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Order followed a stipulated resolution of an Idaho State Bar disciplinary proceeding and related to the following circumstances.
In July 2014, Mr. Featherston’s former brother-in-law, S.B., was arrested in Alaska on drug charges. S.B. called Mr. Featherston’s wife from jail and instructed her to erase the data on his two cell phones. Mr. Featherston erased the data on S.B.’s two cell phones, which at that time were in the custody of Alaska law enforcement. The data erased from the cell phones was accessible on other electronic devices. In September 2016, Mr. Featherston pleaded guilty in Alaska to a misdemeanor charge of attempting to destroy or conceal evidence by erasing the data on S.B.’s cell phones. He was sentenced to 80 hours of community service, ordered to pay fines and costs, and placed on a one (1) year criminal probation.
Following reinstatement, Mr. Featherston will serve a one (1) year probation upon the terms of probation specified in the Disciplinary Order. Those terms include that Mr. Featherston will serve the nine (9) month withheld suspension if he admits or is found to have violated any of the Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct for which a public sanction is imposed for conduct occurring during the period of probation.
(Mike Frisch)