Renewed Threats Draw Additional Sanction

An attorney who had been suspended for three months and was on criminal probation for threats against a psychiatrist was suspended for one year and until further order by the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The Disciplinary Review Board described the conduct

On February 18, 2021, five months into her seven-year term of supervised probation in Mladenovich I, respondent called her former psychiatrist – the same victim whom she repeatedly had threatened in that matter – and left her three threatening voicemail messages.

Specifically, at 4:30 a.m., respondent left her first voicemail message, during which she warned the psychiatrist “[d]o not give [my] kids anymore medication or I will f*$king kill you.” Respondent then accused the psychiatrist of prescribing her children “too many medications” and warned that, if the psychiatrist did not “stay away from me, my kids will f*$king kill you!” Respondent then alleged that her child had committed suicide because of medications that the psychiatrist had prescribed. Finally, respondent called the psychiatrist a “stupid f*$king b*%ch” and warned that the psychiatrist would lose her medical license.

At 4:57 a.m., respondent left her second voicemail message, during which she warned the psychiatrist that she was “bi-polar” and that she was going to “personally take” her medical license. Respondent reiterated that her child had committed suicide because of the psychiatrist. Respondent then warned the psychiatrist to “stay away” and that “if you don’t withdraw that sentence, I will murder you!”

At 5:10 a.m., respondent left her third and final voicemail message, during which she shouted obscenities at the psychiatrist and mentioned various medication that the psychiatrist had prescribed to her children. Respondent then told the psychiatrist that she “didn’t do anything to be on probation.”

On February 18, 2021, after listening to portions of respondent’s voicemail messages, the psychiatrist became “terrified” and contacted the Philadelphia Police Department to report the incident. The psychiatrist notified the police that respondent’s “stalking and harassment” had been ongoing since 2017 and had affected her personal and professional life. The psychiatrist also advised the police that she had “missed work because of these incidents” and was afraid to leave her home out of fear that respondent may be nearby.

On June 17, 2021, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania formally charged respondent with third-degree felony retaliation against a witness, in violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 4953(a) (count one); first-degree misdemeanor terroristic threats, in violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 2706(a)(1) (count two); and third-degree misdemeanor harassment, in violation of 18 Pa. C.S. § 2709(a)(4) (count three).

On September 23, 2021, respondent appeared in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County and pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanor terroristic threats and third-degree misdemeanor harassment. During the plea hearing, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Stephanie J. Sawyer prohibited respondent from engaging in any further contact with the psychiatrist or her family.

Sentencing

Judge Sawyer sentenced respondent to a term of imprisonment of between eleven-and-a-half to twenty-three months, with credit for time served, and allowed her to be “immediate[ly] parole[d]” that same day. Judge Sawyer further sentenced respondent to a two-year term of supervised probation with the requirement that she continue her mental health treatment and have no further contact with the psychiatrist. Additionally, based on her threatening voicemail messages to the psychiatrist, Judge Sawyer found respondent to be in “direct violation” of her seven-year term of supervised probation imposed in Mladenovich I. For violating her probation, Judge Sawyer sentenced respondent to an additional two-year term of supervised probation. In imposing her sentence, Judge Sawyer weighed, in mitigation, the fact that respondent’s mental health “play[ed] a major role” in her criminal conduct, which did not result in any actual violence.

Probation did not go well

the probation officer noted that, on April 12, 2022, respondent began to copy him on e-mails she was sending to her former employer from a real estate agency. Specifically, respondent’s e-mails to her former employer contained anti-Semitic remarks, requested $40,000 based on her termination of employment, and contained accusations that her former employer had raped her.

During the hearing, respondent’s former employer testified that respondent had sent him “very disturbing videos” of “a drill . . . pointing on something similar to a heart and doing something like that. And another one [of] a limb cut off.” The former employer also stated that his office had been receiving from respondent dozens of daily “threats,” “e-mails,” “texts,” and “nonstop calls.” The former employer claimed that respondent had called him a “f&$king Jew,” had threatened to “beat [him] up,” and, on one occasion, had told him that she was “running around [his] house.” The former employer claimed that his “entire team were scared to come back.”

Sanction

On balance, given that respondent’s threatening behavior has continued, unabated, against multiple victims, and while under supervised terms of probation, we determine that a one-year suspension is the appropriate quantum necessary to protect the public and preserve confidence in the bar.

(Mike Frisch)