Court Opinion

ID: 9568087
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:00:33.802336+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:24:20.093281
License: Public Domain

NEELY, Justice,
dissenting:
The majority’s decision suspending Mark Hobbs’ license to practice law for two years prolongs the victimization of Mark Hobbs, who already has been ensnared by Judge Grubb’s scheme. The majority seeks to protect the public and restore public confidence in the Bar. Sadly, the severity of the sanctions imposed on this victim of extortion only undermines its goal. The majority rails at an assault on the integrity of the judicial system; its outrage, although justified, is misplaced. Instead of directing its indignation at the perpetrator-designer of the money-payment scheme, it attacks the young, inexperienced lawyer caught in the web of Judge Grubb’s intrigue. Blinded by its wrath, the majority discounts the enormous power held by any circuit judge — a power magnified by Judge Grubb’s political base in a relatively small community and by his personal attributes. Paul Billups, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, testified that if Mr. Hobbs had exposed the judge, “he and Judge Grubb would have been in opposite corners of the room from that day forward.”
The majority’s outrage also colors their view of the depth of courage required for Mr. Hobbs’ disclosure even after Judge Grubb’s indictment. The majority fails to consider that when Mr. Hobbs disclosed the scheme there was almost no possibility of a disclosure by the judge that would have some way damaged Mr. Hobbs. Paul Billups testified that “[i]t is possible, but not probable” that the U.S. Attorney’s Office might have learned about the extortion scheme. Judge Grubb pled not guilty, publicly proclaimed his innocence and continued actively to campaign for reelection. Even the scheme’s design insulated the judge because the actively involved party was the judge’s wife, not the judge. At her trial, Mrs. Grubb was acquitted. Even if Mr. Hobbs had gone to the Bar with his story, Judge Grubb would have weaseled out with a story about a county judge just trying to help a young lawyer save his big case and the lawyer’s misunderstanding of the poor dumb judge’s friendly help.
Judge Grubb reminds me of the horses I used to ride when I was young. Now, after years of experience, I make sure I ride only hunting, cavalry (if you can still find one) or police horses because they are never mistreated. A mistreated horse, if given the opportunity, will kill its rider. Yet as I learned when I was a boy, even a mistreated horse is not so dumb as not to know how to minimize human retribution. So a treacherous horse waits for the right opportunity to get even — a paper on the road, an unfamiliar bridge, a noisy, truck — something the rider isn’t quite sure wouldn’t cause a dumb horse to shy. Then the horse strikes. But an experienced rider usually knows when a horse is actually startled and when a horse has acted on nefarious intentions. Old Judge *615Grubb was just like a horse; he struck at an inexperienced rider when he could insulate himself from blame through a plausible explanation. The majority sees the incident but refuses to recognize the wickedness of the horse and continues to blame the inexperienced rider.
In its outrage, the majority blurs the distinction between extortion (this case) and bribery. I agree that the sanction for bribery should almost always be disbarment, but that same sanction should not be applied to the victim of extortion.
Finally the ultimate victim of the majority’s harsh treatment is the public because the majority’s lack of understanding will discourage others from coming forward. The majority’s two-year suspension of Mr. Hobbs deprives the people of Logan County of a prosecuting attorney with the courage to challenge an entrenched power, hobbles Mr. Hobbs’ career and discourages others from finding courage at the end of the day.
Although Mr. Hobbs should not have acquiesced in Judge Grubb’s scheme, I find the penalty too harsh in light of the circumstances and would impose only a ninety-day suspension, enough to teach an inexperienced rider a lesson but not to hobble him permanently.