Semester At Sea Ends In Disbarment
The Maryland Court of Appeals has disbarred an attorney convicted of serious crimes
Respondent Claire L. K. K. Ogilvie violated Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct 19-308.4(a), (b), and (d). These violations stemmed from Respondent’s criminal conviction for breaking and entering, malicious wounding, and abduction, all of which occurred in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Court of Appeals held that disbarment was the appropriate sanction for Respondent’s misconduct.
The Daily Progress reported on the crime
A former high school teacher was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to breaking into House Minority Leader David J. Toscano’s home in February and assaulting his wife.
Claire Ogilvie, 36, pleaded guilty Friday to breaking and entering, malicious wounding and abduction by force or intimidation. She was sentenced to 50 years in prison, with all but four suspended.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors removed a clause stating Ogilvie had a deadly weapon from the breaking and entering charge. If convicted on the charge as it originally stood, Ogilvie faced up to a life sentence.
Tramontin left her house for about half an hour to take her son to practice. The door to the house was unlocked when she returned, but Tramontin thought she could have left it that way, Haislip said.
Inside the house, smoke detectors started beeping and wouldn’t stop, as if the batteries were dying, and this led Tramontin to check the basement. Once Tramontin reached the basement, she was jumped from behind and pushed to the ground, Haislip said. Her hands were tied behind her back with a soft material, possibly a cloth.
Ogilvie told Tramontin to stay on the floor and started questioning her, at one point striking her head multiple times with a pipe that had a faucet handle attached to it, causing Tramontin’s face to bleed, Haislip said.
At some point, Ogilvie tried to get her to go to the laundry room and Tramontin refused. Tramontin bit Ogilvie’s finger hard, causing Ogilvie to lose her grip on the pipe. Haislip said Tramontin was able to get the weapon and hit Ogilvie on the head.
Ogilvie’s demeanor then changed and Tramontin was able to talk her down by saying she could be part of the family again. He said Tramontin wanted Ogilvie to leave before her son came home.
The women cleaned up and Ogilvie left. Once Tramontin’s son was home, they went to the emergency room, as she was bleeding profusely.
Haislip said Ogilvie didn’t have permission to be in the house and authorities later found photographs that proved she had broken in before. He said she either came in with a key from when she watched their house while still on good terms, or through an open window in the basement.
She had written a letter asking not to be suspended or disbarred
[] I do not feel that my charges violate the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct. While these convictions would reflect adversely on myself as a person, they do not do so on my honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness to practice law specifically. Although an attorney is personally answerable to all criminal laws, she should be professionally answerable only for those offenses indicating a lack of characteristics desirable and relevant to law practice, such as those involving dishonesty, fraud, or the like.
In addition, my experiences while incarcerated have in fact made me more fit to practice law. The injustices I’ve witnessed and experienced, including those committed by my own attorney, have opened my eyes to the inadequate resources available to defendants, and the prejudice defendants face in the criminal justice system and in the media.
The court
Respondent’s illegal acts negatively impact the public’s perception of the legal profession. See id. Respondent unlawfully entered the home of another, and maliciously wounded and abducted someone in that home. Any one of these offenses negatively impacts the public’s perception of the legal profession. When we consider the illegality and egregious nature of the acts collectively, it is very clear that Respondent’s actions or similar conduct carried out by an attorney would leave the reputation of the legal profession in disrepute. We, therefore, conclude that Respondent violated MARPC 19-308.4(d)…
Although Respondent’s criminal conduct may not rise to the level of egregiousness as the attorneys’ conduct in Greenleaf and Painter, her conduct surely rises above the level of severity as that of the attorneys in Kerpelman, Clinton, Dechowitz, and Sheinbein. Considering the felonious nature of Respondent’s conduct, her criminal conviction and sentence, her failure to report her charges and conviction to Bar Counsel, and the absence of any extenuating circumstances, we concluded that Respondent’s “serious criminal conduct” warrants disbarment.
(Mike Frisch)