Case Title: The Florida Bar v. Lopez

Citation: 406 So. 2d 1100

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1981-11-25T00:00:00Z

Document:
406 So. 2d 1100 (1981)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Peter M. LOPEZ, Respondent.
No. 57904.

Supreme Court of Florida.
November 25, 1981.
Rehearing Denied February 15, 1982.
*1101 John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, Stanley A. Spring, Staff Counsel and Anita F. Dahlquist, Asst. Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, and Paul A. Gross, Branch Staff Counsel, and Wallace N. Maer and Scott K. Tozian, Bar Counsels, Miami, for complainant.
Elliott Harris of Lopez & Harris, Miami, Everett P. Anderson of Pennington, Wilkinson, Gary & Dunlap, and Richard W. Ervin and Dean Bunch of Ervin, Varn, Jacobs, Odom & Kitchen, Tallahassee, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
This disciplinary proceeding is before the Court on complaint of The Florida Bar, the report of a referee, and respondent's petition for review. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.
The Florida Bar filed a complaint alleging that Peter M. Lopez, a member of The Florida Bar, urged two parties he was suing on behalf of his client to change their future testimony in exchange for general releases from prosecution. After a hearing, the appointed referee filed a report containing the following findings of fact:
The referee then made the following recommendations:
Mr. Lopez has taken exception with the referee's report contending that he is not guilty of the infractions charged and that the evidence is insufficient to support any finding to the contrary.
A referee's "findings should be upheld unless clearly erroneous or lacking in evidentiary support." The Florida Bar v. McCain, 361 So. 2d 700, 706 (Fla. 1978); The Florida Bar v. Wagner, 212 So. 2d 770, 772 (Fla. 1968). Here, based on the evidence presented, the referee found that respondent had violated his ethical and professional responsibilities. This conclusion is corroborated by each of the four witnesses' testimony and is reasonable. The evidence presented meets the burden placed on complainant to provide clear and convincing proof of respondent's misconduct. The Florida Bar v. Valantiejus, 355 So. 2d 425 (Fla. 1978); The Florida Bar v. Quick, 279 So. 2d 4 (Fla. 1973); The Florida Bar v. Schonbrun, 257 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 1971); The Florida Bar v. Rayman, 238 So. 2d 594 (Fla. 1970). We therefore affirm the referee's finding that respondent violated his attorney's oath, the Integration Rule, and the Code of Professional Responsibility.
We cannot agree, however, with the referee's recommended three-month suspension with automatic reinstatement at the end of that time. Mr. Lopez has committed a serious violation of his responsibilities as a member of the Florida Bar. We feel that a three-month suspension is insufficient to impress on the respondent, the bar, and the public our dissatisfaction with and distress over his conduct. If Mr. Lopez had been convicted in a court of this state of tampering with a witness, he would have been subject to a one-year term of imprisonment.[*] Using the witness-tampering statute as a guideline, we find a one-year suspension appropriate in this case.
Peter M. Lopez is suspended from the practice of law for one year, effective thirty days from the date of the filing of this opinion, and thereafter until he shall show his rehabilitation through complying with rule 11.11 of the Integration Rule and by obtaining a passing score on the ethics portion of the bar examination. Costs in the amount of $949.00 are hereby taxed against respondent.
It is so ordered.
SUNDBERG, C.J., and OVERTON, ALDERMAN and McDONALD, JJ., concur.
ADKINS and BOYD, JJ., dissent.
[*]  § 918.14(2), Fla. Stat. (1977). Inducement not involving force, deception, threat, or offer of pecuniary benefit is a first-degree misdemeanor.