Opinion ID: 2633460
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: review of count i

Text: Having granted review of Count I, on the basis that it presents an issue of substantial public interest, we must next determine if we should remand to the Board to resolve the question set forth above, or whether we should resolve the issue ourselves, without oral argument. Under RAP 11.6 an appellate court may, on its own initiative ..., decide a case without oral argument. Because RLD 7.4 states that [t]he Rules of Appellate Procedure shall serve as guidance for review conducted pursuant to this rule, except ... as to matters specifically dealt with herein, we are satisfied that we may review the Board's dismissal of Count I without benefit of oral argument. Based on the record before us we are inclined to do so because, in our judgment, a remand would serve no useful purpose. We reach that determination because the Board adopted the hearing officer's factual determination that Bonet made an illegal offer or inducement to Yoder to not testify. That being the case, the question of whether this constitutes misconduct is purely a question of law. We have no difficulty reaching a conclusion that a public or private attorney may not offer an inducement to a witness in order to influence that person to not testify at a trial. An attorney who does that, in our view, violates RPC 3.4(b), [7] RPC 8.4(b), and RPC 8.4(d), [8] regardless of whether the offer or inducement influenced the witness's decision to testify or not testify. Consistent with that notion, we hold that the conclusions of the hearing officer and Board to the effect that Yoder had a preexisting intent to not testify for McCarty is simply irrelevant in determining if Bonet's offer constituted unethical conduct. The gravamen of the complaint alleging misconduct on the part of Bonet is that he offered an inducement to Yoder to influence him to not testify for McCarty. If that is shown, as it was, that act, without more, constitutes a violation of the rules set forth in Count I. The fact that the offer did not, in fact, influence Yoder's testimony is irrelevant. In our view, it would contradict the interest of the public to absolve Bonet of an act of professional misconduct merely because Yoder had a prior subjective intent to not testify. In reaching this conclusion, we take particular note of the fact that in this state a prosecuting attorney possesses a significant powerthe power to charge or not charge a person with a crime. A prosecutor's act of offering to dismiss or withhold a charge against a person in order to influence that person's decision about testifying for another person charged with a crime is highly unethical and as deserving of opprobrium as would a public or private attorney's effort to bribe a witness with money to influence that person's testimony. [9] In sum, we are satisfied, after reviewing the record, that the Board's factual determination that Bonet offered to dismiss criminal charges against Yoder as an inducement to Yoder to not testify should be affirmed. We conclude, additionally, that it was error for the hearing officer and the Board to hold that because Bonet's offer was not linked to Yoder's decision to not testify Count I was not proven. As we observed above, Yoder's intent to testify is entirely irrelevant to whether Bonet's offer constitutes attorney misconduct and the finding of the hearing officer and Board in that regard is surplusage. Because Count I is proven, we reverse the Board's decision that no sanction is appropriate [and all charges should] be dismissed. Pet. for Review app. A at 4. We, therefore, remand to the Board with directions to it to impose or recommend appropriate discipline for the misconduct alleged in Count I.