Case Title: IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF PAGE

Citation: 

Docket Number: SCBD-4741

State: oklahoma

Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Date: 2004-06-22T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF PAGE  IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF PAGE 2004 OK 49 94 P.3d 80 Case Number: SCBD-4741 Decided: 06/22/2004 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA IN THE MATTER OF THE REINSTATEMENT OF WILLIAM C. PAGE TO MEMBERSHIP IN THE OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION AND TO THE ROLL OF ATTORNEYS. ¶0 William C. Page filed a petition for reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association. A Professional Responsibility Tribunal trial panel recommends denial of reinstatement. After de novo review we deny reinstatement. REINSTATEMENT DENIED Randy D. Evers, Norman, Oklahoma and Carl Hughes of Hughes & Goodwin, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for petitioner, William C. Page. Allen J. Welch, Assistant General Counsel, Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for respondent, Oklahoma Bar Association. Lavender, J.: ¶ 1 Before us for consideration is petitioner/applicant, William C. Page's, petition for reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA). The matter is here pursuant to Rule 11 (Reinstatement), Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP), 5 O.S.2001, Ch.1, App.1-A, as amended. After de novo review we deny reinstatement. PART I. STANDARD OF REVIEW AND PERTINENT FACTORS. ¶2 As we set forth more fully in PART II, BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS, infra, applicant resigned from OBA membership pending disciplinary proceedings and after federal felony convictions. The following has been stated concerning reinstatement after disbarment or resignation pending disciplinary proceedings: When this Court in the exercise of its exclusive jurisdiction considers a petition for reinstatement a de novo standard of review is applied. Matter of Reinstatement of Gassaway, Matter of Reinstatement of Blevins ¶3 Furthermore, our cases make clear "that a felony conviction is not tantamount to a death sentence regarding the reinstatement of the license to practice law. Rather, each reinstatement decision is determined on a case-by-case basis, carefully weighing all factors." Matter of Reinstatement of Anderson, PART II. BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS. ¶4 In 1983 we issued an interim suspension of applicant from OBA membership following his federal criminal felony convictions in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. In December 1987 pending disciplinary proceedings he requested approval of his resignation from the OBA. We approved his resignation in State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Page, ¶5 After a jury trial applicant was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) and 18 U.S.C. § 1951. The convictions were upheld in United States v. Page (Page I), ¶6 The background facts concerning the nature of the conduct for which he was convicted and delineation of some, if not all, of the evidence presented against him in the federal criminal case are set forth in Page I. We deem it unnecessary to repeat at length those background facts and evidence detailed in Page I here. For purposes of this reinstatement application proceeding, as before, "[w]e must accept [the federal] convictions as fact, that during the time he was an assistant district attorney and a special district judge, [he] accepted bribes and conspired to accept bribes in return for interference in pending criminal investigations and litigation. He is convicted of using his office to interfere with the judicial processes of law enforcement." Matter of Reinstatement of Page, ¶7 A hearing was held on this reinstatement petition in November 2002 before a Professional Responsibility Tribunal (PRT) trial panel. The matter of petitioner's current reinstatement request was investigated by the OBA through its Office of General Counsel. Although the OBA, through the General Counsel's Office, has no objection to this Court ordering petitioner's reinstatement - in fact, the OBA requests us to approve reinstatement - the PRT trial panel report filed in January 2003 recommends that reinstatement be denied. The OBA General Counsel's Office and applicant filed separate briefs with this Court in February 2003. ¶8 Applicant is currently seventy-seven (77) years old. At the time of his suspension in 1983 he had been an attorney for about twenty-six (26) years, having been admitted to the bar in 1957. Matter of Reinstatement of Page, ¶9 The conduct for which he was convicted occurred while he was an assistant district attorney the second time (1980-1981) and while he was a special judge. A review of Matter of Reinstatement of Page and Page I also make plain that applicant was not convicted of some isolated incident of accepting a bribe on one occasion. Instead, the case against him was based on multiple episodes of his accepting bribes from more than one person or attempting to do so, in exchange for fixing or interfering in pending criminal investigations and litigation, in his roles as assistant district attorney or special judge. ¶10 Applicant, as he did in the proceeding culminating in our previous denial of reinstatement in Matter of Reinstatement of Page, maintains his innocence of the charges upon which he was convicted; although the record also reflects he does not desire to re-litigate his criminal convictions through this proceeding. We made it quite clear in Matter of Reinstatement of Page, ¶11 The main obstacle to a favorable decision on applicant's present reinstatement quest remains the same as that existing over ten (10) years ago when he previously applied, to wit: the seriousness of the original misconduct. This is so because the record presented shows he has maintained competency in the law since his resignation, has conducted himself properly and morally over said period of time, and has not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. ¶12 Numerous witnesses who have known applicant for varying lengths of time, including attorneys and more than one current or former judge, testified in support of his reinstatement and vouched for his legal skills and present moral fitness. ¶13 In essence, the crimes for which petitioner was convicted involved bribery, the crux of the criminality was accepting money and agreeing to accept money to improperly fix or interfere in pending criminal cases or investigations he was associated with as either an assistant district attorney or special judge. At present, we can think of no worse white collar criminal transgression(s) of the law that a prosecutor and judge could commit in such roles. Time has not lessened the seriousness of the wrongdoing. The reprehensible conduct tears at the very fabric of the judicial process; it undercuts public confidence in that process because it puts in question whether those individuals holding the offices of judge and prosecutor act with independence and fairness in carrying out their duties, conforming their actions to the rule of law and its dispassionate application, rather than upon greed or other utterly improper motivations. ¶14 In Matter of Reinstatement of Page, [A]ccepting bribes to pervert justice goes to the very heart of the legal system and is therefore a most severe impropriety. It affects not just one or a few individuals; its impact is on the public and undermines our judicial system, which must maintain public confidence in order to function and serve in balance with the other branches of government for an ordered society. Although this is by no means an easy decision for us because the record, by all accounts, shows applicant has conducted himself admirably over these past twenty (20) years or so, we cannot grant reinstatement to him. His conduct over such period of time is simply not sufficient to overcome the serious nature of the crimes for which he was convicted in his capacity as an assistant district attorney and a judge, i.e., positions imbued with the public trust, a trust the convictions show he directly violated. A judge particularly must be held to a higher standard because within his or her hands the delicate balance of the scales of justice reside, to be weighed and surveyed impartially, independently and fairly. The crimes for which applicant has been convicted tipped those scales or attempted to tip them not on these noble and right bases, but upon grounds completely inimical and foreign to the judicial and prosecutorial tasks, and at odds with the underlying and fundamental principles of our judicial system. In disbarring an attorney, who while a county judge solicited bribes on two occasions, we said the following: Here the [judge] made it quite clear that he would only extend his judicial favor if he was to receive financial remuneration in return. The fact [he] called it an attempt to solicit campaign funds is wholly immaterial. Such activities on the part of any judge brings shame and disrepute to all of the members of the bench and bar, and cannot do else, if continued, but to destroy our system of justice which, in a free society, depends for its effectiveness upon the continued confidence and trust of the people. The people must be able to rely on the integrity and honesty of their judges and lawyers, and it is the duty of this Court, whenever conduct of a lawyer, such as is reflected by this record, is brought to its attention, to prevent such individual from continuing to enjoy the solemn trust and high responsibility with which he was invested as a member of the Bar of this State. State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. James ¶15 Although we have reinstated to OBA membership attorneys convicted of criminal activity or who have committed other misconduct while they were members of the judiciary or held prosecutorial positions and were, in essence, involved in transgressions related to misuse or abuse of their offices, we have uncovered no situation exactly like the present one. See e.g. Matter of Reinstatement of Cook, ¶16 In Application of Sharpe, ¶17 We also acknowledge we have found in our research two cases involving misconduct occurring while the individuals were judges, where seemingly lenient discipline was imposed, two year suspensions, and apparently readmission thereafter, even though each person appears to have engaged in conduct that, in essence, could be looked at as involving bribery and extortion, or, at a minimum, comparable misconduct to that involved here. In State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Tallent, ¶18 In State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Haworth, ¶19 In the final analysis we simply cannot justify reinstatement of this applicant given the serious nature of his misconduct. Further, we must note, we would not be human if we did not sympathize with applicant's plight and his desire to again become a member in good standing of the OBA. Such sympathy, however, cannot be considered by us in this matter and such emotional considerations must be disregarded. The well-being of our judicial system to a large extent rises or falls on the trust the people have in those holding either prosecutorial or judicial offices. Applicant stands convicted of violating that trust. In light of the seriousness of the misconduct manifested by the convictions and the detrimental impact said misconduct has on the legal and judicial systems, we determine applicant has failed to carry his heavy burden to show entitlement to reinstatement. See Matter of Reinstatement of Anderson, ¶20 Petitioner/applicant, William C. Page's, petition for reinstatement to membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA) is DENIED. ¶21 WATT, C.J., HODGES, LAVENDER, HARGRAVE, KAUGER, BOUDREAU, WINCHESTER and EDMONDSON, JJ., concur. ¶22 OPALA, V.C.J., disqualified. FOOT