Case Title: Florida Bar v. Van Deventer

Citation: 368 So. 2d 48

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1979-02-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
368 So. 2d 48 (1979)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Theodore H. VAN DEVENTER, Jr., Respondent.
No. 55735.

Supreme Court of Florida.
February 15, 1979.
David G. McGunegle, Bar Counsel and Branch Staff Counsel, and John A. Boggs, Asst. Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, of The Florida Bar, for complainant.
No appearance for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
This matter is before the Court on Motion for Approval of Conditional Guilty Plea for Consent Judgment and Entry of Final Order of Discipline.
On December 18, 1978, The Florida Bar filed its motion alleging:
The Motion for Approval of Conditional Guilty Plea is granted, and respondent, Theodore H. Van Deventer, Jr., is hereby disciplined by public reprimand to be published in the Southern Reporter based upon the facts set forth above. The publication of this opinion shall serve as the public reprimand to respondent.
Costs in the amount of $677.90 are hereby taxed against the respondent.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, Acting C.J., and OVERTON, SUNDBERG and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
ALDERMAN, J., dissents with an opinion.
ALDERMAN, Justice, dissenting.
In my opinion the gross abuses of fiduciary responsibility committed by the respondent Theodore H. Van Deventer, Jr., require more than a public reprimand. Perhaps there are mitigating circumstances known to The Florida Bar but not alleged in its motion for approval of respondent's conditional guilty plea that would, in this case, justify only a public reprimand. But, based upon the Bar's allegations, it appears to me that respondent should receive more than just a reprimand  he should be removed from the practice of law. I would not accept the conditional plea.