Disciplinary Counsel v. Terry

2016 Ohio 563, 63 N.E.3d 88, 147 Ohio St. 3d 169
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 25, 2016
Docket2014-2157
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2016 Ohio 563 (Disciplinary Counsel v. Terry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Disciplinary Counsel v. Terry, 2016 Ohio 563, 63 N.E.3d 88, 147 Ohio St. 3d 169 (Ohio 2016).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, Steven James Terry, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0041460, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1989. He was appointed by the governor to fill a vacancy on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in April 2007. On June 13, 2011, Terry was convicted in federal court of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of honest-services mail fraud in connection with his judicial duties. As a result of those felony convictions, we suspended his license to practice law on an interim basis on October 26, 2011. In re Terry, 130 Ohio St.3d 1403, 2011-Ohio-5473, 955 N.E.2d 1015. We imposed a separate suspension on November 1, 2013, for his failure to register as an attorney for the 2013-2015 biennium. In re Attorney Registration Suspension of Terry, 136 Ohio St.3d 1544, 2013-Ohio-4827, 996 N.E.2d 973.

{¶ 2} In a February 13, 2012 complaint, relator, disciplinary counsel, alleged that the conduct underlying Terry’s felony convictions' — namely, providing judicial favors in exchange for contributions to his 2008 election campaign — violated five canons of the former Code of Judicial Conduct1 and two Rules of Professional Conduct. The parties submitted stipulations of fact, misconduct, and aggravating and mitigating factors, along with nine stipulated exhibits. A panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline2 heard testimony from two [170]*170witnesses and received Terry’s testimony by deposition from the McDowell Federal Correctional Institution.

{¶ 3} Having found that Terry abused his judicial position and committed all the charged misconduct, the panel recommended that he.be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law. Noting that the sentencing judge found that Terry had committed perjury at his criminal trial and that his conduct had been an egregious violation of the public’s trust and confidence in the judiciary, the board recommended that we exercise the full measure of our disciplinary authority to permanently disbar him from the practice of law in Ohio. Terry objects to the board’s recommended sanction and urges us to indefinitely suspend him for his misconduct.

{¶ 4} We adopt the board’s findings of fact and misconduct, overrule Terry’s objection, and permanently disbar him from the practice of law in Ohio.

Misconduct

{¶ 5} At the time of his appointment to the common pleas bench, Terry inherited numerous pending court cases, including a multiparty foreclosure action in the consolidated cases of K & L Excavation, Ltd. v. Auburn Bldg. Co., Cuyahoga C.P. No. CV-03-51572, and Avon Poured Wall, Inc. v. Lane, Cuyahoga C.P. No. CV-04-519620, that involved a house that was being constructed by Brian and Erin Lane. As part of the litigation, American Home Bank sought $190,000 in damages from the Lanes. The Lanes moved for summary judgment in November 2006, and the bank moved for summary judgment in March 2008. Both motions were pending when Terry was appointed to the bench.

{¶ 6} Joseph O’Malley, a friend of Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank P. Russo, represented the Lanes in the litigation. In May 2008, Russo — who had provided substantial and continuous support to Terry’s election campaign — gave Terry a note directing him to deny the bank’s motion for summary judgment. In July 2008, a member of Russo’s staff called Terry to give him the case numbers in the bank litigation and ask him to call Russo. Terry called Russo on July 17, 2008, and had the following discussion about the pending litigation:

[Terry]: Hey Renee called and said you wanted me to call you?
[Russo]: Yeah, I just wanted to let you know. Did Robin give you those case numbers?
[Terry]: Yes.
[Russo]: OK. In other words, I talked to you about this once before, it’s about denying the motions for summary judgment.
[171]*171[Terry]: Yep. I still have the note that you gave me.
[Russo]: OK. Good. Deny the motions for summary judgment. OK. Good.
[Terry]: Got it.
[Russo]: OK, good. No that was all, I just wanted to touch base with you on that, and that’s it.

{¶ 7} Following that conversation, Terry called the magistrate assigned to the American Home Bank litigation and, based solely upon his review of the case docket available on the Internet, instructed her to deny the bank’s motion for summary judgment. Terry signed an entry denying the motion on July 18, 2008, and advised O’Malley of his action. During a telephone conversation with Russo later that day, Terry told him, “This is so ironic that you’re calling me right now, because I called you just to tell you that, um, I took care of those two issues with those two cases that we talked about. * * * Denied everything, and then, who’s over in my courtroom right now but Joe O’Malley?”

{¶ 8} Terry did not disclose any of his communications with Russo and O’Malley to the other parties to the litigation. In October 2008, the bank agreed to settle the case for a $27,000 judgment against the Lanes. That November, Terry was elected to a full term as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge.

{¶ 9} Terry was indicted on September 14, 2010, United States v. Terry, N.D. Ohio No. 1:10-CR-390, and pursuant to Gov.Jud.R. III(6)(A) was immediately disqualified from acting as a judge. A five-count superseding indictment was issued on March 9, 2011; it alleged that Russo had provided financial and other types of support to Terry’s 2008 judicial campaign in exchange for which Terry provided favorable judicial treatment for O’Malley in the American Home Bank litigation.

{¶ 10} On June 13, 2011, Terry was convicted of three of the five counts in the superseding indictment: Count One, conspiring to commit mail fraud and honest-services mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, 1346, and 1349 by accepting financial and other types of support for his judicial campaign from Russo; and Counts Three and Four, defrauding and depriving Cuyahoga County citizens and taxpayers of his honest services by soliciting and accepting payments and other things of value from Russo through the U.S. Mail in exchange for favorable official action by Terry in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341, 1346, and 2. He resigned his judicial position the next day.

{¶ 11} Terry was sentenced on October 4, 2011, to a term of 63 months in prison on each of his three convictions, to be served concurrently, and was [172]*172ordered to serve two years of supervised release and to perform 250 hours of community service on his release from prison. He was also ordered to pay a $300 special assessment and to make restitution totaling $27,880.79.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 Ohio 563, 63 N.E.3d 88, 147 Ohio St. 3d 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/disciplinary-counsel-v-terry-ohio-2016.