Assaults Lead To Disbarment

A North Carolina attorney has been disbarred  by the Wake County Superior Court in the wake of misdemeanor convictions

Marvin R. Sparrow of Rutherfordton surrendered his law license and was disbarred by the Wake County Superior Court. Sparrow pled guilty and was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of assault on a female in Buncombe County Superior Court.

From the order

By assaulting a female client, a prospective female client and the mother of a client, Sparrow engaged in a conflict of interest in violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7(a)(2), committed criminal acts that reflect adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects [and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice in  violation of Rule 8.4]

JD Journal reported

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office was alerted on August 2015 of Sparrow’s conduct when a woman claimed she had been inappropriately touched by her lawyer, Sparrow, in his office. The Sheriff’s Office passed the complaint to the State Bureau of Investigations, who then looked into the actions of the Rutherfordton lawyer.

By September 2015, his law license was suspended. For two years, they investigated Sparrow. During that time, two more women came forward with complaints against him. One woman claimed that she had been an inmate at the Rutherford County Detention Center when he touched her inappropriately. The other woman said she had been at the courthouse when he touched her.

Sparrow eventually pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of assault in 2017. His sentence was 120 days in prison but it was suspended for just 120 days of community service. He surrendered his license and was disbarred soon after.

His LinkedIn account claims that he graduated from North Carolina Central University School of Law. He has apparently had his own law office since 2002.

(Mike Frisch)