Opinion ID: 1178027
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the false claim charge

Text: Eight months after his rape trial in 1973, petitioner was charged with filing a false claim with the United States Government. He pled guilty to the charge before a special court martial. This incident was raised at the State Bar Court and Committee hearings. Petitioner admitted his guilt in the incident, and expressed remorse. The State Bar Court and the Committee found the incident to be a factor indicative of present bad moral character. (4) At age 21, petitioner, despondent and bitter over his rape trial in which he received no assistance from the Marine Corps, developed a drinking problem. It was under these circumstances that he submitted the false claim. It appears to have been an isolated incident of dishonesty. Since then, petitioner appears to have matured, overcome his alcoholism, attended college and law school, and has demonstrated his ability to work in the setting of a law office in a professional manner. In the past, we have considered participation in unlawful incidents at an early age to be youthful indiscretions, which should not bar admittance to our bar after several years of law-abiding conduct. (See, e.g., Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1966) 65 Cal.2d 447, 464, 466, 467, 469 [55 Cal. Rptr. 228, 421 P.2d 76].) We also note that the passage of nine years with an unblemished, exemplary record, in itself, should be sufficient to show rehabilitation. Had petitioner been disbarred, after five years he could have filed an application for reinstatement. (Rules Proc. of State Bar, rule 662.) We would have reinstated him upon a showing of [s]ustained exemplary conduct over an extended period of time that [he has] reattained the standard of fitness to practice law. (See In re Petty (1981) 29 Cal.3d 356, 362 [173 Cal. Rptr. 461, 627 P.2d 191] (theft and forgery); see also In re Conflenti (1981) 29 Cal.3d 120, 124-125 [172 Cal. Rptr. 203, 624 P.2d 253] (receiving stolen goods); accord, In re Monaghan (1966) 126 Vt. 53, 60 [222 A.2d 665, 671] (violence and violations due to intoxication).) At the State Bar Court and Committee hearings, petitioner presented the testimony and letters of several attorneys for whom he had worked that he had diligently performed his duties in a professional manner. This evidence supports a showing of the requisite exemplary conduct over an extended period of time, suggesting that the 1973 false claim incident is not a sufficient indication of present bad moral character.