Case Title: In re Application of Dickens

Citation: 2005-Ohio-4097

Docket Number: 20050229

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2005-08-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as In re Application of Dickens, 106 Ohio St.3d 128, 2005-Ohio-4097.] 
 
 
 
IN RE APPLICATION OF DICKENS. 
[Cite as In re Application of Dickens, 
106 Ohio St.3d 128, 2005-Ohio-4097.] 
Attorneys at law — Application to take Ohio Bar Examination denied when 
applicant fails to show by clear and convincing evidence that he possesses 
the character and fitness required for admission to practice law in Ohio — 
Applicant has a history of violating criminal and traffic laws and of 
neglecting his financial responsibilities — Applicant may file an 
application to take the bar examination no sooner than for the July 2008 
examination. 
(No. 2005-0229 — Submitted March 30, 2005 — Decided August 24, 2005.) 
ON REPORT by the Board of Commissioners on Character  
and Fitness of the Supreme Court, No. 238. 
__________________ 
 
PER CURIAM. 
{¶ 1} Applicant, Angelo Dickens, of New York, New York, graduated 
from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in May 1995.  He applied to take the 
Ohio bar examination in July 1995, February 1996, and July 1996.  His character 
and fitness were approved each time, and he sat for all three examinations. 
{¶ 2} Applicant then applied to take the July 2001 Ohio bar examination.  
The Joint Committee on Bar Admissions of the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County 
Bar Associations recommended that the application be denied, and as a result, 
applicant did not sit for the bar examination that year. 
{¶ 3} Applicant appealed, and a three-member panel of the Board of 
Commissioners on Character and Fitness held hearings in July 2002 and 
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December 2003.  Applicant testified at the first hearing but did not appear at the 
second hearing; one hour before the second hearing began, applicant called to 
request a continuance.  The panel also considered various documentary exhibits.  
The record before us discloses the following facts. 
{¶ 4} Applicant has a long history of legal troubles.  Among his criminal 
convictions are two disorderly conduct charges, two harassment charges, a 
menacing charge, and a menacing-by-stalking charge. 
{¶ 5} Applicant also has a record of traffic crimes.  He was convicted of 
reckless operation in New Jersey in 2000.  Moreover, in his second application to 
take the bar examination, he reported having received an unspecified number of 
parking tickets, a speeding ticket, and two other unexplained citations since he 
had last applied to take the bar exam.  And in his third bar-exam application, 
applicant reported having accumulated 40 outstanding parking tickets over the 
previous four years as well as another speeding ticket since his last application. 
{¶ 6} Two warrants for applicant’s arrest were outstanding when the 
panel issued its report in July 2004.  One warrant resulted from applicant’s failure 
to pay a fine imposed with his New Jersey reckless-operation conviction; the 
other was issued by Pennsylvania authorities after applicant was convicted of 
harassment and did not pay the fine and court costs. 
{¶ 7} Applicant has been involved in civil proceedings as well.  In his 
fourth bar-exam application, he reported that he had been evicted from rental 
properties by court orders in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. 
{¶ 8} The panel also examined applicant’s financial records and 
employment history.  On his fourth bar-exam application, applicant disclosed that 
six of his credit cards had been revoked for his default.  At the second panel 
hearing, the evidence showed that applicant owed past-due debts to Visa and the 
United States Department of Education and had been in default on a student loan 
since 1980.  The balance on that loan was over $9,000 in March 2003.  Applicant 
January Term, 2005 
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also acknowledged on his fourth bar-exam application that he had been fired from 
jobs twice in 2000. 
{¶ 9} Applicant made several comments in his applications and 
testimony that the panel found troubling.  First, describing one of his convictions 
in his 2001 application, applicant insisted that he had been wrongly accused, a 
witness had lied at his trial, and he had been wrongly convicted.  Applicant also 
claimed that his landlords had evicted him in illegal retaliation. 
{¶ 10} Testifying before the panel, applicant reported that he had been 
“verbally and psychologically abused” by the Joint Committee on Admissions of 
the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Bar Associations.  He claimed, “Many 
powerful people, wealthy people along with [a] large group of rouge [sic, rogue] 
cops from several Northeast Ohio jurisdictions have conspired against me to 
destroy me and keep me down in poverty and unemployed for the rest of my life.”  
He also said, “People by the thousands * * * threaten me daily every time I walk 
down the street * * *.  * * * People even try to run me down at high rates of speed 
when I am in a crosswalk, including on-duty Cleveland cops.”  The panel was 
understandably disturbed by these statements and others of their sort and found 
them to be “totally unbelievable and unrealistic.” 
{¶ 11} In weighing the evidence, the panel considered the factors listed in 
Gov.Bar R. I(11)(D) and concluded that applicant had demonstrated a pattern of 
disregard for the laws of this and other states, had neglected his financial 
responsibilities, and had violated court orders.  Gov.Bar R. I(11)(D)(3)(f), (k), and 
(m).  Citing what it described as applicant’s bizarre and incoherent testimony, the 
panel also expressed the view that applicant may be suffering from a mental or 
psychological disorder that, left untreated, could affect his ability to practice law 
in a competent and professional manner.  Gov.Bar R. I(11)(D)(3)(e). 
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{¶ 12} The panel concluded that applicant had not established his 
character and fitness for admission to the Ohio bar by clear and convincing 
evidence. 
{¶ 13} The board adopted the panel’s findings of fact and recommended 
that applicant’s pending application to take the Ohio bar examination be 
disapproved.  The board further recommended, consistent with the panel’s report, 
that applicant be permitted to reapply no sooner than for the July 2008 exam and 
that to apply for that exam, applicant be required to file a new application to 
register as a bar candidate and to undergo another complete character and fitness 
evaluation.  The board also recommended that applicant be required to submit 
with his new application a psychiatrist’s assessment of applicant’s fitness to 
practice law. 
{¶ 14} We adopt the findings, conclusions, and recommendation of the 
board.  Under Gov.Bar R. I(11)(D)(1), “[t]he applicant has the burden to prove by 
clear and convincing evidence that the applicant possesses the requisite character, 
fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law.”  The 
evidence amply shows that applicant did not meet that burden. 
{¶ 15} First, applicant’s history of violating criminal and traffic laws and 
his repeated civil legal troubles with his landlords call into question his fitness to 
practice law.  Any outstanding arrest warrants must be resolved before he can sit 
for the bar examination for the fourth time.  “Evidence of a pattern of disregard of 
the laws of Ohio or of other states” calls into question an applicant’s claim that 
his or her prior conduct justifies the trust of clients, adversaries, courts, and 
others.  In re Application of VanDenBossche (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 158, 160-161, 
724 N.E.2d 405.  See, also, In re Application of Kapel (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 532, 
651 N.E.2d 955 (applicant’s disorderly conduct conviction and repeated traffic 
violations, including speeding, demonstrated that the applicant lacked the 
requisite character and fitness for the practice of law). 
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{¶ 16} Second, financial responsibility is critically important for lawyers.  
The reservations expressed by the panel members relating to applicant’s financial 
condition were justified, and neglect of financial responsibilities weighs against 
approval of an application for admission.  “We expect applicants for admission to 
the Ohio bar and bar members to scrupulously honor all financial commitments.”  
In re Application of Manayan, 102 Ohio St.3d 109, 2004-Ohio-1804, 807 N.E.2d 
313, ¶ 14.  See, also, In re Application of Mitchell (1997), 79 Ohio St.3d 153, 679 
N.E.2d 1127 (disapproving the application of an applicant who, along with other 
problems, had had several credit cards canceled for nonpayment). 
{¶ 17} Finally, applicant’s testimony suggesting that witnesses, law 
enforcement officers, and others are conspiring to frustrate his professional goals 
and endanger his safety are troublesome.  These remarks do not convey an 
attitude of respect toward our system of justice, and they reflect an unhealthy 
tendency on applicant’s part to blame anyone but himself for any setbacks or 
challenges in his personal and professional life.  At a minimum, applicant’s 
written and oral testimony raises serious doubts about his present fitness to 
practice law. 
{¶ 18} For these reasons, we disapprove applicant’s application to take the 
Ohio bar examination.  He may, however, apply to sit for the examination in July 
2008 or later by filing an entirely new application to register as a candidate, a new 
application to take the bar examination, and a report from a psychiatrist regarding 
his fitness to practice law.  Upon application, he must undergo a complete 
character and fitness investigation, including the preparation of a report by the 
National Conference of Bar Examiners, to allow the board to determine whether 
he possesses the necessary qualifications for admission to the practice of law in 
Ohio. 
Judgment accordingly. 
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MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’CONNOR, 
O’DONNELL and LANZINGER, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Angelo Dickens, pro se. 
 
Anthony J. Amato, for the Joint Committee on Admissions of the 
Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Bar Associations. 
______________________