Title: The Florida Bar v. King
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 33891
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: April 21, 1965

174 So. 2d 398 (1965)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Harry E. KING, Respondent.
No. 33891.

Supreme Court of Florida.
April 21, 1965.
Miller, Cone, Owen, Wagner &amp; Nugent, West Palm Beach, for The Florida Bar, complainant.
Chester Bedell, Jacksonville, for respondent.
*399 PER CURIAM.
On March 3, 1964, The Florida Bar filed a complaint against the respondent, Harry E. King, charging him with the following acts of misconduct which we quote from the complaint:
(We omit here the specific testimony.)
Thereafter, on March 23, 1964, respondent filed his answer and request for hearing. The Florida Bar designated as referee Honorable Victor O. Wehle, formerly a circuit judge of the sixth judicial circuit and now again a judge of said circuit. Hearing was held before Judge Wehle on May 27, 1964, and on August 25, 1964, his report as referee was filed. Said report is explicit and thorough, and we quote the substance thereof as follows:
In accordance with the provisions of Integration Rule 11.06(9) (b), 31 F.S.A. which provides: "Bar counsel and respondent may each file a statement in support of or in opposition to the findings and recommendations of the referee," a statement by counsel for The Florida Bar was filed with the Board of Governors in which Bar counsel concurred in the referee's recommendations concerning a public reprimand. The full statement of Bar counsel is as follows, viz.:
On December 1, 1964, the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar filed its judgment in this cause. It concurs with the findings of the referee but disagrees with his recommendation of discipline. It recommends that respondent be disbarred.
We have given careful consideration to the entire record in this cause and agree with the conclusions and recommendations of the referee. He is an able, experienced and highly regarded circuit judge. He heard the witnesses and was in a position to judge the sincerity of their testimony. The acts committed by respondent were extremely reprehensible, and we are convinced, as was the referee, that had this case been diligently initiated and prosecuted at the time of the commission of such acts we would have considered disbarment required. Had such occurred, and had respondent now nine years later petitioned for reinstatement and presented the record of exemplary conduct both before and after these acts that he has presented here, we would order reinstatement.
Disciplinary proceedings should be handled with dispatch. State ex rel. Florida Bar v. Oxford, Fla., 127 So. 2d 107. Disciplinary or disbarment proceedings are solely for the purpose of purging the roll of legal practitioners of unworthy or disreputable members and not for the purpose of punishment for any malfeasance or dereliction of duty, and no fine, imprisonment or other punitive sentence can be imposed. State ex rel. Florida Bar v. Rubin, Fla., 142 So. 2d 65.
Prior to these acts of respondent he was a successful lawyer and state senator. He was well regarded for his ability as well as his integrity. He had reached the point that his high goal of becoming president of the Florida Senate was committed to him by his fellow senators, and he only needed to be returned as senator by the electorate of his district to attain this ambition. Then *404 he became involved in political skulduggery with a ruthless political enemy who was determined to defeat him for the office. By his own aggression, or that of his antagonist, respondent bought this opponent out of the race for the sum of $10,000, but his opponent did not stay bought. He made public political capital of the incident, and then came a political tussle between the two as to who had set a trap for the other. Things went from bad to worse, and respondent saw his reelection and the presidency of the senate, which had seemed so secure to him, slipping from his grasp as a result of this altercation. No doubt in desperation, he went along with a false story and not only knowingly allowed others to testify to it but also did so himself.
Such actions cannot be condoned, particularly by a member of the legal profession. But we believe from the evidence presented, as apparently did the referee, that said actions were out of character for respondent. We do not condone them, and respondent does not. They are extremely reprehensible and damaging to the legal profession.
We are now confronted with the question of whether or not we should further damage respondent by taking away from him his profession of thirty-nine years' standing. He has suffered degradation and humiliation, the loss of reelection to the senate, as well as the presidency of the senate, the loss of $10,000 and the torment of being under criminal prosecution for a number of years. In spite of this, according to all of the evidence presented, he has at all times since that episode nine years ago conducted himself in an exemplary manner as a man and as a lawyer. The testimony reflects that since this occasion he has given his clients "gold plated" service in his legal representation of them. He has the support of every circuit judge of his circuit, as well as the bar of that area. In addition, other prominent and substantial non-lawyer citizens appeared in his behalf.
In spite of the respondent's gross misconduct of nine years ago, we believe that by his subsequent exemplary conduct he has earned the right to continue to serve his profession. We believe that he will at all times in the future conduct himself in such manner as to rectify, insofar as he can, the blemish that he has placed upon his record. If we did not think so, we would agree with the Board of Governors and sustain the order of disbarment. Under the circumstances heretofore related, however, we consider disbarment or suspension at this late date to be excessive. It is, thereupon,
Ordered that Harry E. King be and he is hereby publicly reprimanded for his acts aforesaid. Costs of these proceedings in the sum of $1,019.51 are assessed against respondent.
It is so ordered.
DREW, C.J., THORNAL, O'CONNELL and BARNS (Retired), JJ., and McCORD, Circuit Judge, concur.