Opinion ID: 1735018
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence on Charge of Misconduct As An Attorney

Text: Judge Henson urges this Court to reject the Hearing Panel's finding of guilt on Count II on grounds that it is not supported by clear and convincing evidence. We conclude to the contrary and approve the Hearing Panel's guilt determination. Findings of fact by a JQC Hearing Panel must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. See In re Graziano, 696 So.2d 744, 753 (Fla.1997). This Court must then review the findings and determine whether they meet this quantum of proof, a standard which requires more proof than a `preponderance of the evidence' but less than `beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt.' Id. (citing Davey, 645 So.2d at 404). Findings that meet this standard are given great weight by this Court. See LaMotte, 341 So.2d at 516. The ultimate responsibility for making a determination on the appropriate sanction rests with this Court. See art. V, § 12(c)(1), Fla. Const.; Graziano, 696 So.2d at 753. Under the constitutional scheme enacted in 1996, the JQC is divided into separate Investigative and Hearing Panels, with no member serving on both panels in the same proceeding. See art. V, § 12(f)(2)(d), Fla. Const. [3] In attorney discipline proceedings, this Court reviews a referee's findings of fact for competent, substantial evidence. See Fla. Bar v. Barrett, 897 So.2d 1269, 1275 (Fla.2005); Fla. Bar v. Vining, 761 So.2d 1044, 1048 (Fla. 2000). Absent a showing that the referee's findings are clearly erroneous or lacking in evidentiary support, this Court is precluded from reweighing the evidence and substituting its judgment for that of the referee. Fla. Bar v. Wohl, 842 So.2d 811, 814 (Fla.2003) (quoting Fla. Bar v. Sweeney, 730 So.2d 1269, 1271 (Fla.1998)). In JQC proceedings both before and after the 1996 revision, we have relied upon the clear and convincing evidence standard without distinguishing findings of fact from whether the facts as found warrant particular discipline. See In re Kinsey, 842 So.2d 77, 85 (Fla.2003) (Accordingly, we review the findings to ensure that there is clear and convincing evidence to support the alleged ethical violations  a standard of proof which has been described as more than a preponderance of the evidence, but the proof need not be beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt.) (quoting Davey, 645 So.2d at 404) (quotation marks omitted). We need not decide in this case whether our review of the JQC Hearing Panel's factual findings is subject only to the competent, substantial evidence standard or whether we have an obligation to review the record to determine whether there is clear and convincing evidence because the evidence in this case satisfies both standards. Even before the creation of the two-stage process in JQC proceedings, we stated that the JQC's findings are given great weight by this Court because the JQC is in a position to evaluate the testimony and evidence first-hand. Graziano, 696 So.2d at 753. [4] In Davey this Court commented upon the JQC's superior vantage point to resolve credibility questions in declining to discipline a judge for lack of candor in his testimony without a formal allegation and particularized findings by the JQC: In short, we are deprived of the benefit of the Commission's eyes and ears. As a reviewing body, we possess limited insight into such subjective matters as a witness's sincerity, demeanor, or tone, or the comparative credibility of competing witnesses. Without the Commission's insight, we can do little more than take a stab in the dark on such matters. 645 So.2d at 406. We accord the same deference to findings of fact in attorney discipline cases, in which findings that can result in disbarment are made by a single referee rather than the six-member Hearing Panel used in JQC proceedings. See Fla. Bar v. Batista, 846 So.2d 479, 483 (Fla.2003) (Because the referee is in the best position to judge the credibility of the witnesses, we defer to the referee's assessment and his resolution of the conflicting testimony.); Fla. Bar v. Hayden, 583 So.2d 1016, 1017 (Fla.1991) (where testimony conflicts, referee is charged with responsibility of assessing credibility based on demeanor and other factors). Judge Henson asserts that the evidence did not reach the threshold of clear and convincing evidence necessary to justify removal from office. He relies on this Court's statement in Davey that proof by clear and convincing evidence entails both a qualitative and quantitative standard. The evidence must be credible; the memories of the witnesses must be clear and without confusion; and the sum total of the evidence must be of sufficient weight to convince the trier of fact without hesitancy. [C]lear and convincing evidence requires that the evidence must be found to be credible; the facts to which the witnesses testify must be distinctly remembered; the testimony must be precise and explicit and the witnesses must be lacking in confusion as to the facts in issue. The evidence must be of such weight that it produces in the mind of the trier of fact a firm belief or conviction, without hesitancy, as to the truth of the allegations sought to be established. Slomowitz v. Walker, 429 So.2d 797, 800 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983). 645 So.2d at 404. In Davey, this Court rejected the JQC's recommendation that a judge be removed from office, and reprimanded him instead for misconduct occurring when he was in private practice. This Court chose the lesser penalty because the evidence met the clear and convincing evidence standard on only one of two alleged violations found by the JQC. The Court rejected the JQC's finding that after his election as a judge but before he assumed office, the judge attempted to keep a fee payment for himself rather than share it with his law firm, but was frustrated in the attempt because the check was made out to the firm. The evidence was insufficient because one witness gave contradictory testimony as to whether the fee payment check had been made out to the judge personally or to his law firm, while the only other witness to testify on the matter could not say conclusively that he ever saw the check. See id. at 404-05. Judge Henson asserts that, as in Davey, the evidence that he advised Ms. Jimenez to leave the United States rather than face trial was indecisive, confused, and contradictory. Id. at 405. Addressing the testimony of each of the three primary witnesses against him, Judge Henson argues first that Ms. Jimenez never directly testified that Judge Henson advised her to leave the United States, and that her belief that Judge Henson had so advised her is insufficient to prove the charge. He next points to an apparent inconsistency in the testimony of Dr. Jimenez, Ms. Jimenez's father, on whether it was Judge Henson or Dr. Jimenez who stated that Colombia and the United States had an extradition treaty, a significant consideration in determining whether it would be a safe haven for Ms. Jimenez. Judge Henson then asserts that Nesmith, an attorney who shared office space with him, was not credible in testifying that Judge Henson told him he had advised Ms. Jimenez and her father that she should leave the country. Judge Henson challenges Nesmith's credibility on grounds that Nesmith could not recall precisely when this remark was made, and that in a previous statement Nesmith did not disclose that Judge Henson had said he would deny making the remark if asked and that Judge Henson offered to refer a case to Nesmith to buy his silence on the Jimenez disclosure. Judge Henson also argues that each of these witnesses was biased against him  Ms. Jimenez because she blamed Judge Henson for her sixteen-year prison sentence, Dr. Jimenez for the same reason and because of a fee dispute with Judge Henson (which led Dr. Jimenez to file a Bar grievance against Judge Henson), and Nesmith because he and Judge Henson had personal and professional disagreements. Finally, he asserts that Ms. Jimenez is not credible because of her criminal conviction and that Nesmith's credibility is suspect because he has twice been sanctioned by this Court  a reprimand and a suspension  for ethical violations. Contrary to Judge Henson's assertions, none of the matters he raises regarding the testimony of the witnesses against him deprives the evidence of the probative force necessary to prove the allegation in Count II. The other key witnesses corroborated Ms. Jimenez's testimony that at several points during the course of his representation of her, Judge Henson conveyed the suggestion that she should leave the United States rather than face trial on her DUI manslaughter charges. He asked whether she retained her passport and whether she had family remaining in Colombia, and discussed with her on several occasions the option of fleeing to Colombia. Dr. Jimenez testified that Judge Henson directly made the same suggestion to him in a separate conversation, and Nesmith testified that Judge Henson acknowledged advising Ms. Jimenez and her father that she should leave the country. In this case, Diana Jimenez and Dr. Jimenez testified by videotaped deposition, and Maria Jimenez via a transcribed deposition. Accordingly, their testimony is available to this Court in the same form as it was presented to the Hearing Panel. We have stated that the normal level of deference accorded by an appellate court to a lower tribunal's findings of fact does not fully apply when the findings are based on evidence other than live testimony. See Parker v. State, 873 So.2d 270, 279 (Fla. 2004). However, both Judge Henson and Nesmith appeared personally before the Hearing Panel and were questioned vigorously by panel members as well as by opposing counsel. Therefore, we decline to substitute our credibility determination for that of the Hearing Panel, and we conclude based on this record that there is no legal reason for us to overturn the Hearing Panel's findings resolving conflicts in the evidence against Judge Henson. Resolving conflicts in the evidence in favor of the Hearing Panel's findings, we conclude that the accusation that Judge Henson advised Ms. Jimenez to flee the jurisdiction to avoid trial is supported by clear and convincing evidence. This Court has noted that even when the evidence is in conflict, the proof may be more than sufficient to meet the standard of clear and convincing evidence. In re Bryan, 550 So.2d 447, 448 n.  (Fla.1989); see also In re Guardianship of Schiavo, 780 So.2d 176, 179 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (The clear and convincing standard of proof, while very high, permits a decision in the face of inconsistent or conflicting evidence.). The evidence here was not, as in Davey, indecisive, confused, and contradictory on the essential question of whether Judge Henson advised Ms. Jimenez to flee the United States. In Davey, one witness could not testify whether in fact he saw a fee check that constituted a crucial piece of evidence, and another witness gave contradictory testimony on the question. In this case, the testimony of Ms. Jimenez that Judge Henson advised her to return to Colombia rather than face trial was corroborated by testimony from Dr. Jimenez that Judge Henson advised him to have Ms. Jimenez flee and from Nesmith that Judge Henson stated to him that he told Ms. Jimenez and Dr. Jimenez that Ms. Jimenez should flee the country. Importantly, Judge Henson does not deny that a discussion about fleeing to Colombia took place with Dr. Jimenez and attorney Nesmith. However, in his version it was Dr. Jimenez who initiated the improper notion and not himself. This version flatly contradicts the testimony of both Nesmith and Dr. Jimenez, but is significant in that it corroborates their testimony that conversations on Ms. Jimenez fleeing did take place. The cumulative, corroborative weight of the testimony is more than sufficient for the Hearing Panel to have rejected Judge Henson's testimony and concluded by clear and convincing evidence that he counseled Ms. Jimenez to commit an illegal act. Certainly, each of these witnesses had reasons to be biased against Judge Henson. Further, to some degree, Ms. Jimenez's crimes and attorney Nesmith's previous ethical violations were relevant to their credibility. However, these are matters of impeachment to be taken into consideration by the Hearing Panel, and are not sufficient justification for this Court to overturn the Hearing Panel's determination on the critical issue of witness credibility. Similarly, it was for the Hearing Panel, and not this Court, to determine the significance of omissions in previous statements and to resolve any conflicts in the evidence over who said what concerning Colombia's extradition treaty with the United States. Accordingly, we accept the finding of the Hearing Panel that Judge Henson advised Ms. Jimenez to flee the United States in anticipation of her impending DUI manslaughter trial. We conclude that Judge Henson violated Rules of Professional Conduct 4-1.2(d) and 4-8.4(a)-(c) of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. [5]