Permission Denied

A stayed 30-day suspension and probation with conditions of one year has been ordered by the Kentucky Supreme Court

McLeod represented Jodie Cecil (“Cecil”) in a criminal matter in which she and her co-defendant, Bryan Greenwell (“Greenwell”), were charged with murder, attempted murder, and several other crimes. In November 2017, McLeod sought to discuss the case with Greenwell and asked Greenwell’s counsel, public defender Heather Erskine (“Erskine”), for permission to do so. Erskine declined McLeod’s repeated requests and even wrote McLeod a letter reiterating her denial of permission.

Respondent nonetheless met with the co-defendant while the trial was in progress and

Later that day, McLeod informed Erskine of the visit. Erskine brought the matter to the circuit court’s attention, and the court held ex parte proceedings regarding McLeod’s conversations with Greenwell. These proceedings were conducted in closed sessions and were designated as “private” on the videotape. Only the defendants and their counsel were present. McLeod and Cecil were excused from the courtroom when Greenwell was questioned. McLeod then posted clips of the hearings on YouTube and invited viewers to comment.

The court affirmed the convictions of both defendants in an unpublished opinion.

In an unrelated matter, Respondent had allowed a client’s appeal to be dismissed

McLeod filed a notice of appeal on Ingram’s behalf in February 2019, but then failed to timely file a brief. As a result, the Court of Appeals issued four orders (dated August 22, 2019; September 16, 2019; November 14, 2019; and February 19, 2020) requiring McLeod to show cause why the case should not be dismissed. McLeod did not respond to any of the orders, and Ingram’s appeal was eventually dismissed on May 21, 2020.

McLeod claims that Ingram had failed to pay $15,000 in attorney’s fees, advanced no money for the appeal, and even expressed that he no longer wanted to pursue the appeal because he had already served his jail time. However, McLeod took no action to directly dismiss the appeal.

Sanction

Upon review of the foregoing facts and charges, we find that the negotiated sanction between the parties is adequately supported by the record and the recommended sanction is appropriate in light of this Court’s prior decisions.

(Mike Frisch)