Suspension For Domestic Violence

The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended an attorney for at least four years without automatic reinstatement

During the overnight hours of March 4 and 5, 2019, Respondent brutally beat and confined his girlfriend in his home. During this time he used his victim’s cell phone to send various messages while pretending to be her. Eventually the victim managed to flee Respondent’s house and summon help from a neighbor. When law enforcement officers arrived, Respondent locked the victim’s phone and refused to unlock it. Shortly thereafter Respondent made statements to the media falsely accusing the victim of having attacked him.

Respondent was serving as the elected prosecutor in Johnson County at the time he committed his crimes. He was charged with confinement, domestic battery, identity deception, and official misconduct, and pled guilty to those four charges. Respondent resigned his elected office following his sentencing hearing in July 2019, simultaneously with his removal from office by operation of law due to his felony convictions.

The attorney sought a short suspension with automatic reinstatement and cited prior cases

However, any similarity between those cases and this one ends there. Respondent’s acts of battery were more brutal and his victim more vulnerable; his criminal conduct involved not only violence but dishonesty; and he is a repeat disciplinary offender.

The prior discipline was a reprimand for a Rue 8.2(a) violation.

The hearing officer had recommended permanent disbarment.

The court’s sanction leaves open the possibility of eventual return to practice

Respondent already has been under interim suspension for about one and a half years. Together with the four-year suspension we impose today, which is effective from the date of this opinion and not retroactive, Respondent will serve well over five years of suspension before becoming eligible to petition for reinstatement. Should Respondent seek reinstatement at that time, his petition will be granted only if he is able to prove his fitness to resume the practice of law by clear and convincing evidence, a burden that will be particularly steep given the severity of Respondent’s misconduct.

(Mike Frisch)