Minor In A Tavern Charge Not Reported On Bar Application

An attorney who had failed to fully disclose his reportable conduct on his bar application and was convicted of a DUI after admission was suspended for six months with all but 120 days stayed and probation for three years by the Indiana Supreme Court.

 Respondent was admitted to practice in Indiana in May 2004. The bar application asked for full disclosure of both criminal convictions and accusations of violations of the law. In 2000, he had been convicted of operating a vehicle with a BAC equivalent between 0.08 and 0.25, a class C misdemeanor. He reported this conviction on his 2003 bar application. He had also been charged in 1996 with Minor in a Tavern, a class C misdemeanor, which was resolved through a pre-trial diversion agreement. Respondent did not report this charge in his initial 2003 application nor in a renewed application.

In 2010, Respondent pled guilty to operating a vehicle while intoxicated (“OWI”) endangering a person, a class A misdemeanor, for which he received an agreed public reprimand. See Matter of Massillamany, 946 N.E.2d 581 (Ind. 2011). Based on an incident on or about July 11, 2013, Respondent was charged with OWI with a prior conviction within five years, a class D felony. He self-reported this incident to the Commission on July 17, 2013. He pled guilty on April 9, 2014, and promptly notified the Commission of this conviction.

The probation requires him to abstain from alcohol and “mind altering” drugs. (Mike Frisch)