Title: In Re Hett
Citation: 423 P.2d 629, 70 Wash. 2d 435
Docket Number: 5056
State: Washington
Issuer: Washington Supreme Court
Date: February 9, 1967

70 Wn.2d 435 (1967) 423 P.2d 629 In the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceedings Against NED EDWARD HETT, an Attorney at Law.[*] No. C.D. 5056. The Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc. February 9, 1967. T.M. Royce, for Board of Governors. Leon L. Wolfstone (of Wolfstone &amp; Panchot), for respondent. OTT, J. This is a disciplinary proceeding involving Ned Edward Hett, an attorney practicing law in this state. February 7, 1964, a federal court jury found Ned Edward Hett guilty on four counts of feloniously aiding and abetting Richard James Young in his flight to avoid criminal prosecution. The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. Hett v. United States, 353 F.2d 761 (9th Cir.1965). The circuit court characterized Mr. Hett's aiding and abetting activities as "quite intricate and extensive" and found that Richard James Young was involved in the following robberies: It described the relationship between Mr. Hett and Mr. Young as follows, at 762: From the circuit court's affirmance of his conviction, Mr. Hett sought review by certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. Certiorari was denied. Hett v. United States, 353 F.2d 761 (9th Cir.1965), cert. denied 384 U.S. 905, 16 L. Ed. 2d 358, 86 Sup. Ct. 1339 (1966). After the arrest of Mr. Hett upon the federal charge, the Board of Governors instituted disciplinary proceedings against him. The record before the hearing panel discloses that Mr. Hett had feloniously aided and abetted Mr. Young in escaping to Brazil (1) by establishing a work contract with a corporation Mr. Hett was forming for a client, which company was never actually incorporated, and (2) by participating in the falsification of a passport for Mr. Young. The hearing panel concluded "That moral turpitude is an element of each of the crimes of which Respondent, NED EDWARD HETT, was convicted." The hearing panel recommended Mr. Hett's disbarment conditioned upon his federal court conviction being affirmed on appeal. The Board of Governors upon its review ordered that "this matter be held in abeyance awaiting the appeal." January 21, 1966, after Mr. Hett's conviction was affirmed by the court of appeals, the Board of Governors recommended his disbarment. *437 Mr. Hett does not question the findings of fact of the hearing panel and of the Board of Governors. He does, however, question the imposition of disbarment. In this regard, he urges "that the disposition be that of censure, coupled by a suspension for the period of incarceration only." Rule for Discipline of Attorneys 3, RCW vol. 0, provides: [1] Rule 3, supra, provides that an attorney can be disbarred for the commission of any act involving (1) moral turpitude, (2) dishonesty, or (3) corruption. We believe that an attorney's participation in the formation of a fictitious corporation for unlawful purposes to meet the entry requirements of a foreign country, and his participation in the falsification of a passport for his client are acts which involve moral turpitude, dishonesty, and corruption. The commission of any one of these acts is sufficient to invoke disbarment. We adopt the findings and recommendations of the hearing panel and of the Board of Governors. It is ordered *438 that Ned Edward Hett be, and hereby is, disbarred from the practice of law in the State of Washington, and that this name be stricken from the role of attorneys entitled to practice law in this jurisdiction. ALL CONCUR. [*] Reported in 423 P.2d 629.