Opinion ID: 2069869
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mr. Wells' age and maturity when the offenses were committed, and the social and historical context at the time.

Text: Mr. Wells was in his mid-40's at the time of his misconduct and had been a trial judge for seven years and a practicing attorney for three years. Thus, Mr. Wells was of sufficient age and maturity that he was well able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct. His conduct cannot be explained as a youthful indiscretion. Indeed, Mr. Wells acknowledged that he committed the offenses, although his acknowledgment seems contradictory at times. For example, he continued to try and make distinctions between what he did and other violations of the disciplinary rules, describing his misconduct as a private wrong because it involved private relationships and characterizing other breaches of attorney-client responsibilities as public wrongs in an apparent effort to downplay the seriousness of the misconduct. Thus, the social and historical context at the time of the offenses does not constitute an extenuating circumstance or otherwise suggest that the misconduct was aberrational. See Manville II, 538 A.2d at 1130-31 and 1134-35 (discussion of Brooks' application). Indeed, the issue in Indiana or before this committee is not whether Mr. Wells' lifestyle is inappropriate and there is no basis for judging Mr. Wells sexual orientation. The issue has always been Mr. Wells' conduct toward young clients and his attempts to justify that conduct and his continuous attempts to ascribe improper motives for the actions taken against him.