Opinion ID: 2508592
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Burden of Proof and Persuasion

Text: Petitioner opines that the panel has not produced nor referenced any evidence that refutes the evidence he provided that [he] is of good moral character and has requisite character and fitness to be a member of the Hawai`i state bar. Petitioner asserts that the panel's findings of fact do not show a record ... manifesting a deficiency in honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, or reliability. Petitioner asserts that he has committed no crime, no bad acts. If he had, Petitioner writes, prior to admission [ [23] ] he would be required to show evidence of rehabilitation. Petitioner says he was merely falsely accused of crimes and bad acts. Contrary to his hint, Petitioner was not required to show evidence of rehabilitation before reinstatement in Missouri. Petitioner was reinstated under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 5.21(b), quoted in Petitioner's Missouri motion to set aside suspension as follows: (b) If an order of suspension based upon such plea or finding is entered and, thereafter, the suspended lawyer files a certified copy of an order rejecting or setting aside the guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere or the order of a court reversing or setting aside the finding of guilty, this Court shall immediately enter an order reinstating said lawyer unless the lawyer is under suspension or disbarred as a result of having been found guilty of professional misconduct in a disciplinary proceeding brought pursuant to this Rule 5. Such reinstatement shall not bar prosecution in a disciplinary proceeding against the lawyer.[ [24] ] That is, unlike Petitioner's application proceeding before this court, the Missouri reinstatement did not require proof of character and competence. More importantly, the burden of providing a character record is upon the applicant, not the Board of Examiners or the hearing panel. See RSCH 1.3(c)(2). Unfortunately for Petitioner, the record he provided is not a record from which we can conclude that we can entrust the lives, rights, and property of clients to him.