Court Opinion

ID: 9728619
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:12:37.799323+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:50.327488
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(dissenting).
SDCL 23A-27-13 provides:
Upon receiving a verdict or plea of guilty for a misdemeanor or felony not punishable by death or life imprisonment by a person never before convicted of a crime which at the time of conviction thereof would constitute a felony in this state, a court having jurisdiction of the defendant, when satisfied that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public as well as the defendant will be served thereby may, without entering a judgment of guilt, and with the consent of the defendant, suspend the imposition of sentence and place the defendant on probation for such period and upon such terms and conditions as the court may deem best. A court may revoke such suspension at any time during the probationary period and impose and execute sentence without diminishment or credit for any of the probationary period. (Emphasis supplied.)
In absolute contravention to this statute, the court in this case on December 20,1978, did enter a judgment of guilt as reflected by these words:
JUDGMENT of this Court that the Defendant is GUILTY of attempted Disposal of Mortgage (sic) Property in violation of SDCL 32-3 — 47.
Thus, I would hold that the judgment of guilt on the original suspension of the imposition of sentence was void ab initio.
SDCL 23A-27-14 states:
Upon completion of the observance of all conditions imposed pursuant to § 23A-27-13, the court service worker assigned to defendant’s case shall bring the matter to the attention of the court, whereupon the defendant shall be discharged by the court. A formal entry of such discharge shall be entered by the clerk of courts. Discharge and dismissal under this section shall be without court adjudication of guilt and shall not be deemed a conviction for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law upon conviction of a crime. Discharge and dismissal under this section may occur only once with respect to any person. (Emphasis supplied.)
As the record now stands, respondent has been convicted of absolutely no crime. As I read the majority opinion, it bases its disciplinary action upon the conviction of a crime under SDCL 16-19-33. The November 8, 1979, order provided:
Defendant in the above captioned matter having been found guilty based upon a stipulation of facts on the 15th day of November, 1978, of the offense of Attempted Disposal of Mortgaged Property, and the Court having suspended the imposition of sentence and have placed and the defendant on probation on the 15th day of November, 1978, pursuant to SDCL 23-57-4,
It appearing to the Court upon proper showing that the defendant has observed all the conditions of probation imposed by the Court,
IT IS ORDERED that the above-entitled action be, and hereby is, dismissed and the defendant discharged.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all official records in this action be sealed, along with all recordation relating to the defendant’s arrest, indictment or information, trial, and dismissal and discharge.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a non-public copy of this ORDER be forwarded to the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Office of the Attorney General.
*724IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the fingerprinting contributor request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation the return to the contributor of all fingerprint identifying data submitted to the Bureau for purposes of disqualifications or disabilities imposed by law for convictions of a crime.
It is to be noted that respondent and his counsel made it perfectly clear that they were not admitting to the facts alleged in the information and that respondent was not pleading guilty to the information. Particularly significant is that the lower court said: “So I don’t want to get cross roads here. That-either he is stipulating that these are the facts that if these witnesses were to testify and that the Court can use facts as a basis for entering any finding. Is that correct?” Counsel for respondent answered: “That is correct.” And the Court asked: “Is that correct, George?” Respondent answered: “Yes, your honor.” The trial court had the right and duty to make a finding but did not have the right to adjudicate guilt which was in absolute derogation of the purpose of a suspended imposition of sentence and contrary to the understanding of respondent and his attorney before the trial judge. (Emphasis supplied).
Furthermore, there was a written plea bargain filed in the lower court on September 11, 1978. Paragraph three provides: “The State of South Dakota will state those facts which it would prove at trial in this matter. Defendant Weisensee will stipulate to those facts, and the court will reach its finding based upon them.” (Emphasis supplied). Paragraph four of this joint plea bargain provided: “Defendant Langloss will plead guilty to the offense charged.” Obviously, Weisensee plea bargained for the court to draw findings and Langloss plea bargained to entry of a guilty plea. Weis-ensee’s plea bargain should not have been treated, as it was below, as a plea of guilt. This lawyer has the right to rely on a plea bargain not unlike any other citizen.
In fairness to this lawyer, I wish to point out three findings by the Disciplinary Board in arriving at its recommendation for a suspension from the practice of law for one year:
3. That at the time of the respondent’s appearance in Court for the purpose of entering the plea to the charges against him, his attorney specifically stated that the facts posed by the stipulation were not admitted to by the respondent but only that those facts were what the State’s witnesses would testify to.
4. That the respondent’s agreement to a plea bargain which would give him the suspended imposition of sentence was to a certain degree motivated by his realization that he was a severe alcoholic and was physically very ill and with the understanding that upon his satisfactorily complying with the sentence of the Court that his record would be sealed and purged and he would not then be guilty of a serious crime which would result in his disbarment.
5. That the respondent’s agreement to turn over his license to practice law to the Supreme Court was understood by the respondent to apply only to his period of probation and that he would be able to request reinstatement upon satisfactorily complying with the conditions of his 'sentence.
If the “conviction” falls and if there was no finding, and there was not, then what remains to disbar this attorney? If the answer is alcoholism, then the record overwhelmingly shows that his addiction has terminated, as Justice Fosheim points out. If my premise is correct, there is absolutely no presumption of unfitness. The prime purpose of the suspended sentence statutes in this state is to provide a means for nonconvietion of a defendant. I do not find the two California cases and the Nevada case cited by the majority opinion to be compelling authority in view of our state statutes. The California statutes differ from ours and the Nevada case piggybacks the California rationale. The pertinent section of the California Business and Professions Code is 6101 which provides:
*725Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, involving moral turpitude, constitutes a cause for disbarment or suspension as provided in section 6102. The record of conviction shall be conclusive evidence . . A plea of or verdict of guilty is deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of this section.
Our statutes do not mandate disbarment upon a conviction.
The majority opinion rests its case, I believe, on this so-called “conviction; ” without it, there is no case against the respondent. By the majority opinion, respondent’s “unfitness” is inextricably aligned with his “conviction.” Therefore, I would dismiss the disbarment proceeding in totality.