A Rolling Stop

An attorney admitted in 2018 was suspended for the length of his deferred criminal sentence by the Oklahoma Supreme Court for four misdemeanor convictions

 This matter arises from Shyers’s pleas of guilty to four drug-related misdemeanor charges. On December 17, 2020, Shyers was driving in Perry, Oklahoma, while under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Shyers claimed he injected himself with Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, and pulled his car over when he became sick. A witness called the police to respond to where Shyers was located. When law enforcement arrived, an officer located Shyers in his parked vehicle, rolling a marijuana cigarette. The officer found marijuana, cocaine, and a pipe used for smoking illicit substances in Shyers’s vehicle. The Noble County District Attorney charged Shyers with four misdemeanor charges, and Shyers pled guilty to all charges after Count 1 was reduced from Driving Under the Influence to Actual Physical Control. After Shyers tendered pleas of guilty, the district court deferred sentencing for two years, until January 27, 2024, and placed Shyers on probation, which included supervision by the district attorney for 18 months. The district court ordered Shyers to undergo an alcohol and drug assessment and follow the assessment’s recommendations; attend a Victim’s Impact Panel course; complete DUI school; undergo random urinalysis; and serve one weekend in the Noble County jail. He also must pay fines in the amount of $250 for each charge, probation fees, and costs.

Mitigation

After his arrest, Shyers claims that he underwent an alcohol and drug assessment and followed all its recommendations. He attended AA meetings twice a week, was involved in the Lawyers Helping Lawyers program, and completed a DUI school as well as a Victim’s Impact Panel course. Shyers states that he also attended weekly outpatient counseling from June 2021 to December 2021 with Richard Crawford, LPC, LMFT. His counseling was not only for his continued sobriety, but also for the loss of his marriage and coparenting.

Shyers is currently employed at the firm Doney & Whalen, P.L.L.C. as a paralegal. R. Matt Whalen, who is now the Associate District Judge of Ottawa County, provided a reference letter for Shyers. Judge Whalen stated that he has observed the changes that Shyers has made in his personal and professional life in the past few years, and he believes Shyers has “much to offer the legal community as a practicing attorney.”

Shyers states that he chose to take a break from the practice of law in 2021, due to his recent divorce. He claims he needed to focus on his mental health and give undivided time to his children. Shyers argues that this Court should take into consideration that in addition to his interim suspension, Shyers “self-suspended” for one year. However, Shyers does not mention that his self-suspension corresponds with when this Court suspended him on June 7, 2021, for his failure to pay his bar dues. He did not pay the past-due bar dues until May 2022, almost a year after his suspension.

Sanction

Shyers should be suspended the length of his deferred sentence to ensure a considerable period of sobriety, adequate rehabilitation, and his ability to protect his license, so that the Court can trust Shyers to handle client matters.

(Mike Frisch)