Ready To Return
A Louisiana Hearing Committee recommends the reinstatement of an attorney suspended for three years in 2009 for a number of criminal incidents.
The committee considered evidence of treatment for alcohol issues
Applicant entered into a two-year diagnostic monitoring contract on October 3, 2018. At the time of the hearing of this matter on December 18, 2018, Applicant had been subjected to six (6) random drug/alcohol screens. Two diagnostic reports had been issued by the time of the hearing, both were “favorable.”
The committee recommends a year of continued treatment.
The Supreme Court suspension order described the allegations
On Saturday evening, September 8, 2001, respondent drove to the home of his estranged wife, Amy Holliday. Respondent’s two-year old daughter from his marriage to Ms. Holliday was with him in the car, and the formal charges allege that respondent was under the influence of alcohol at this time. Respondent did not find Ms. Holliday at home, but he discovered a pickup truck parked in the driveway which belonged to Ms. Holliday’s boyfriend (now husband), Martin Schmidt. Using a shovel, respondent smashed all the windows of Mr. Schmidt’s truck and caused significant damage to the body of the truck. He then fled the scene prior to the arrival of the police.
The following day, September 9, 2001, the police were advised as to respondent’s whereabouts near the intersection of Essen Lane and Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. As the police approached, they observed respondent proceeding in his vehicle down Perkins Road. The police followed respondent and activated their lights and sirens, but he refused to stop. The pursuit wound through a residential subdivision until respondent finally stopped in a private driveway, but he then refused to exit his vehicle as instructed. The police approached the vehicle with guns drawn and discovered respondent’s daughter in a car seat in the front passenger seat.
And
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on December 3, 2002, respondent was driving south on LSU Avenue in Baton Rouge at a high rate of speed. At the intersection of LSU Avenue and Highland Road, respondent ran a red light and broadsided a vehicle traveling eastbound on Highland Road, injuring the driver. Respondent, who was highly intoxicated at the time, exited his vehicle and attempted to flee the scene of the accident by climbing a wooded ridge south of the intersection. After the police searched the wooded area and apprehended respondent, he reported that he had been with a stripper from the Gold Club in Baton Rouge and that she had been driving his vehicle at the time of the crash. This story was a fabrication, however, as independent eyewitnesses confirmed that respondent had been driving the car and that no one else was with him. Respondent was arrested and charged with DWI second offense, hit and run, disobeying a red light, reckless driving, and failing to maintain proof of insurance. After obtaining numerous continuances of the matter, respondent pled guilty in February 2005 to failing to report an accident, disobeying a red light, and reckless driving. In June 2005, petitioner obtained a court order expunging the record of his arrest.
He denied causing the truck damage but
The crux of the allegation in Count II is that respondent vandalized a truck belonging to his estranged wife’s boyfriend while it was parked at his wife’s home in Baton Rouge. The record reveals the ODC’s case depended in large measure on the testimony of two witnesses, Christy Caballero and Ashley Mullens. Ms. Caballero testified she was babysitting at the home of respondent’s estranged wife on the night of the incident. She testified respondent knocked on the door while holding his two-year old daughter and that he became angry when she would not let him in. Ms. Mullens, a resident of the garage apartment at the rear of the property, testified she saw a man hitting a pickup truck in the driveway. Although Ms. Mullens could not identify the man, she testified he was holding a child in his arms as he vandalized the truck.
In opposition to the evidence produced by the ODC, respondent testified that he was in St. Francisville on the night of the incident and did not return to Baton Rouge until the next day. As corroboration, he relied on the testimony of his stepmother, who indicated he was in St. Francisville during the relevant time period.
After hearing testimony from all the witnesses, the hearing committee made a factual finding that respondent was responsible for vandalizing the truck.
(Mike Frisch)