Opinion ID: 2357961
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Respondent's Motion To Dismiss Based on Bar Counsel's Alleged Failure to Present A Prima Facie Case

Text: At the conclusion of Bar Counsel's case, respondent moved that the Hearing Committee dismiss the charges on the basis that Bar Counsel has not a presented a prima facie case . . . . The Committee declined to dismiss the charges. It directed the respondent to go forward with his case, but reserved decision on the question of the sufficiency of Bar Counsel's proof. (Tr. 24-25) Respondent has asserted that Bar Counsel did not make out a prima facie case because Bar Counsel called no witnesses and relied on exhibits which were irrelevant to the charges against respondent. (Respondent's Post Hearing Brief, pp. 10-12) The Committee believes that respondent's contention that Bar Counsel failed to establish a prima facie case is without merit. Respondent did not contest the authenticity of the exhibits offered by Bar Counsel. [3] The exhibits demonstrated that: 1) the Superior Court appointed respondent as trustee to sell realty; 2) respondent received payments for the sale of the realty; 3) respondent deposited the payments in a trust account; 4) respondent made a series of withdrawals from the trust account for personal and business purposes, and 5) respondent deposited money in the account that did not derive from the proceeds of the sale of the realty. Thus, the documentary exhibits offered by Bar Counsel were clearly relevant and, indeed, established that respondent commingled personal funds with the funds he was holding as trustee in the trust account and that respondent used funds from the trust account for purposes unrelated to the purpose for which the trust account was established. Such evidence was sufficient to establish a prima facie case of a violation of DR 9-102(A). Bar Counsel's exhibits also demonstrated that respondent, at a hearing before the Auditor-Master, misstated his gross income for the year 1979. The transcript from the hearing before the Auditor-Master (Bar Ex. 10) showed that respondent stated under oath that in 1979 he grossed in excess of $150,000. Respondent's income tax return for 1979 showed, however, that he grossed approximately $58,000. Thus, the exhibits presented in Bar Counsel's case in chief on this aspect were also both relevant and sufficient to establish a prima facie case under DR 1-102(A)(4). In asserting that the Bar Counsel did not make out a prima facie case, respondent relies primarily on In the Matter of Thorup, 432 A.2d 1221 (D.C.App.1981), where the court stated that the burden of proof in attorney disciplinary proceedings is on the proponent. 432 A.2d at 1225 citing Charlton v. Federal Trade Commission, 177 U.S. App.D.C. 418, 543 F.2d 903 (1976). In the Matter of Thorup, supra , is clearly distinguishable from the instant case. There an attorney was accused of failing to adequately represent his client. The only evidence produced to support that charge was a docket sheet that showed only that the accused attorney had failed to file a motion to suppress, and that such a motion had subsequently been filed by successor counsel and granted by the trial court. The accused attorney was asked to explain his action, and was unable to do so to the satisfaction of the Hearing Committee. In finding the attorney in violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility, the Hearing Committee found the attorney's records and recollections insufficient, which the Court of Appeals held is misconduct neither charged nor founded in the Disciplinary Rules. 432 A.2d 1225. The court refused to accept the Board on Professional Responsibility's argument that Bar Counsel had met its burden of proof by the introduction of the docket sheet. The court stated that it had repeatedly rejected Monday morning quarterbacking in ineffective assistance of counsel cases, and that a judgmental or tactical error revealed by later events or hindsight does not of itself establish a disciplinary violation. The court also rejected the Hearing Committee's use of the attorney's testimony to modify the charges against him. As discussed above, the exhibits introduced into evidence by Bar Counsel in the instant case demonstrated much more clearly a prima facie case that respondent violated the Code of Professional Responsibility. Moreover, Bar Counsel did not in the instant case rely on one piece of evidence, but rather on a large number of detailed and highly relevant exhibits that reflected respondent's conduct over a period of months.