“Dumbass”

A reciprocal admonishment has been imposed by the Arizona Presiding Disciplinary Judge based on sanctions ordered by Tribal Court of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation 

By order dated August 16, 2023, the tribal court adopted the proposed findings, conclusions, and recommended sanction. The court concluded Respondent had violated ABA Model Rules 8.4(a), (c), and (d) by:

(1) losing her professional perspective in the juvenile dependency matter;
(2) failing to act in the best interests of the juvenile

(a) when she asked a probation officer to write a formal complaint in the hopes of reassigning the juvenile’s caseworker, (b) assuming [Respondent] could act as the juvenile’s case manager, (c) advocating for the juvenile to remain in a home when he, the juvenile, was engaging in unsafe activities, and openly defiant to the household, school, and court directives, (d) commenting in front of the juvenile that it is appropriate to assume that police officers have caused individual injuries without factual support, and (e) giving the juvenile a backrub in open court;

(3) making misstatements in court filings related to the GAL Motion regarding her interactions with police,
(4) engaging in a pattern of unprofessional, aggressive, confrontational, and yelling behavior with Court personnel; and
(5) referring to the juvenile caseworker as a “dumbass.”

Sanction

An admonition – the lowest level of discipline– is certainly within the range of appropriate sanctions for the violations of ER 8.4 found by the tribal court.

(Mike Frisch)