The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1905-03-10
FROM PRAcTIcINe IN COURTS OF
FLoRIDA-LENeTHY PAPER IS
FILED IN JACKSON COUNTY CIR
CUT COURT. BY ATTORNEY J.
WALTER KEHoE.

Proceedings to disbar Judge Benz.
S. LiddOn, ex-chief justice of the
Florida supreme court, from practicing
as an attorney in the courts of the
state, have been brought in the circuit
court Of Jackson county by ]. Walter
Kehoe, states attorney The papers
were filed on March Z, and set forth
at some length the grounds upon
which the proceeding is based and
the specifications in detail.
The Introductory of the lengthy COM
plant, copy of which reached the
city yesterday, and the grounds upon
which disbarment is asked, follows;
In the First Judicial Circuit of Flor
ida, Circuit Court of Jackson Coun-
ty-In re B. S. Liddon-Proceed-
ings for disbarment
Now comes J. Walter Kehoe, state at
tOrney for the First Judicial District Cir
cult of Florida. and having been directed
by the Honorable Charles B. Parkhil.,
judge of the First Judicial Circuit,
to make in writing a motion in the
name of the state of Florida to dis
bar B. S. Liddon, member of the bar.
practicing in the said First Judicial
Circuit of Florida. Therefore,
In the name of the State of Flor
ida, l. ]. Walter Kehoe, state attor-
ney of the First Judicial Circuit OF
Florida. do move the court to disbar
the said B. S. LiddOn, as attorney
at law, practicing in the courts of the
First Judicial Circuit and the State
of Florida, upon the following
grounds:
list. Because the said B. S. Liddon
has been guilty of deceit and miscoh-
duct in his ONCE as attorney. in the
courts of the First Judicial Circuit of
Florida
'2nd That the said B. S. Liddon
has been guilty of unprofessional acts
which unfit him for association with
fair and honorable members of the
profession.
-3rd. That the said B. S. Liddon
has been guilty of dishonest conduct
in the discharge of his duties as al
torney in the courts Of this circuit
The Specifications.
The specifications of the various
acts. alleged to have been committed |,
cover ten typewriter pages. One al
leges that Liddon accepted a retainer
from both parties interested in a case.
This was in the settlement of an
estate, of which John Milton, Jr., was
administrator, and for which the a..
tOrney, it is claimed, was paid one
hundred dollars, and that the other
fee came from the heirs of the estate,
who reside in Virginia
Another alleges that he addressed
letter TO John Howard, Jr, in which
he spoke disparagingly of the profes-
siOnal standing OF d. L. McKinnOn,
also an attorney.
The specifications also charge that
| in 1885 Judge iddon Withdrew
from a case, when he had been en-
ployed by J. c. Pelt, and employed
another attorney to represent his
client, that the selection of the attor-
ney was not satisfactory to J. c. Pelt,
/ but when the latter demanded the re-
turn of the fee paid. it was refused.
! One of the most serious Of the many
charges is the twelfth, which is as
follows:
18TH. That during the month of
April or May, A. D., 1901, during the
session of the Florida legislature that
a bill was there pending affecting oys-
tiers in and about Apalachicola bay
in Franklin County and the State of
{ Florida; that one John Ruge, a resi-
dent of Apalaehicola and party IL
| terested in the oyster industry at that
point, had the said B. S. Liddon in his
| employ at Tallahassee; that the said
! John Ruge was opposed to the said
! bin then pending before the Florida
/ LEGISLATURE and desired to have same
defeated and that the said B. S. Liddon
was there in his capacity as an at
torney at law employed TO secure II
4 possible. the defeat of said bill; that
4 c. L. Wilson Of Mariana, Fla, was
then senator from the fourth senator
/ ial district of Florida, and as such
was entitled to a vote on said bill,
being a member of the Florida legisla-
! ture before which such bill was pend
ing. tnat the said B. S. Liddon then
/ ana there. during said session of the
legislature in the city of Tallahassee,
during the month of April or May, A.
d. 1901, did approach the said C. l.
Wilson and offered him a sum of
money TO make a speech in the Florida
legislature against said bill.
Ju0ge Liddon served for many years
in the highest legal position in the
s4aFe. that of chief justice of the
supreme court, and upon his retire
ment entered into the practice of his