Disparaging Judicial Opponent And Subornation Of Perjury Draws Proposed Suspension

A Louisiana Hearing Committee has recommended a one-year suspension with three months deferred

On November 11, 2016, Respondent pleaded guilty in the 19th JDC (East Baton Rouge Parish) to one count of violating state campaign finance/election laws (R.S. 18:1505.1) by knowingly and willfully failing to file an accurate and complete financial disclosure report. In 2014, Respondent knowingly failed to disclose a $1760 expenditure which he made in connection with his candidacy for New Iberia City Court Judge. Respondent later amended his previously-filed campaign finance  report to report the undisclosed expenditure. At Respondent’s guilty plea, Respondent voluntarily elocuted to providing $1760 to an individual, identified as Paul Camacho, for the purpose of printing and distributing a campaign “flyer” anonymously disparaging Respondent’s election opponent, Theodore, “Trey” Haik, III. Because state law requires that the person(s) publishing election materials must disclose their identity on the advertisement, in an effort to conceal Respondent’s connection to the campaign material, Respondent enlisted Mr. Camacho as an intermediary and provided him with the flyer and necessary cash with instructions to print and distribute the flyer, which he later did. The flyer which Respondent provided to Mr. Camacho does not identify Respondent as the author or source of the material as required by law.

He also made false statements to investigators and tried to get Camacho to execute a false affidavit.

Respondent later invited Camacho to come to his law office, which Camacho did on August 9, 2016. At that time, Respondent once again counseled and urged him to sign an affidavit falsely stating that Respondent had not paid him cash to have the flyer printed and distributed. Respondent’s stated purpose in doing so was to present false testimony from Mr. Camacho in affidavit form to the ODC. Mr. Camacho declined to sign the proffered affidavit.

Findings

The Committee finds that the Respondent engaged in the conduct set forth in the eight joint stipulations and that he did lie under oath to the Louisiana Board of Ethics and, on two separate occasions, attempt to suborn the perjury of Paul Camacho, III in order to provide false evidence to the Court which took his guilty plea and to the Louisiana Board of Ethics (paragraph V of the stipulations) and again when the matter came before the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in the course of its investigation (ODC – 7), although Camacho never signed such an affidavit and no false affidavit was ever submitted either to the court or to the Board of Ethics.

(Mike Frisch)