In re Blair

40 A.3d 883, 2012 WL 573157, 2012 D.C. App. LEXIS 281
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 23, 2012
DocketNo. 10-BG-47
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 40 A.3d 883 (In re Blair) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Blair, 40 A.3d 883, 2012 WL 573157, 2012 D.C. App. LEXIS 281 (D.C. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

In its attached Report and Recommendation, the Board on Professional Responsibility has recommended that Walter L. Blair, a member of the Bar of this court, be disbarred. We adopt the Board’s recommendation.

I.

On December 15, 2009, as more fully described in the Board’s Report, Blair was convicted, inter alia, of one felony count of witness tampering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3) (2011 Supp.), and of one felony count of obstruction of justice, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a) (2000).1 The events that led to Blair’s convictions are set forth in detail in United States v. Walter L. Blair, 661 F.3d 755 (4th Cir.2011) (per curiam).

[884]*884In its Report and Recommendation, which was issued on July 28, 2010, the Board concluded that Blair’s convictions of witness tampering and obstruction of justice involved moral turpitude per se. The Board therefore recommended that Blair be disbarred, but that this court “should defer final action until [Blair’s] appeal is decided and the convictions are final.” Blair did not file an exception to the Board’s recommendation, nor has he filed a brief in this court.2

On September 21, 2011, the Court of Appeals reversed Blair’s conviction for obstruction of justice, but affirmed his conviction for witness tampering, as well as most of his convictions for other offenses. Blair filed a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc, but on October 28, 2011, that petition was denied.3 We agree with the Board that witness tampering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3), is a crime of moral turpitude per se. See In re Luvara, 942 A.2d 1125, 1127 (D.C.2008). Accordingly, the appropriate sanction for Blair’s conduct is disbarment. In re Colson, 412 A.2d 1160, 1165 (D.C.1979) (en banc).

II.

For the foregoing reasons, Walter L. Blair is hereby disbarred. For purposes of reinstatement, Blair’s disbarment shall run from the date that he files an affidavit that fully complies -with D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g).

So ordered.

APPENDIX

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

This matter is before the Board on Professional Responsibility (the “Board”) pursuant to an order of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (the “Court”) directing the Board to institute a formal proceeding to determine the nature of the final discipline to be imposed based on Respondent’s federal convictions of money laundering, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, making false statements to the government, and failing to file tax returns. Specifically, we are to review the elements of these crimes to determine whether they involve moral turpitude within the meaning of D.C.Code § 11-2503(a) (2001). We conclude that Respondent’s convictions of obstruction of justice and witness tampering involve moral turpitude per se, requiring Respondent’s disbarment under D.C.Code § ll-2503(a).

BACKGROUND

Respondent was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on February 9, 2001. On December 15, 2009, Respondent was found guilty in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland of eight felony counts of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(l)(B)(i), one felony count of money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a), one felony count of witness tam[885]*885pering in violation of 18 ■ U.S.C. § 1512(b)(3), one felony count of obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503(a), one felony count of false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), and two felony counts of failure to file individual tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203. On April 23, 2010, Respondent was sentenced to eleven 97-month terms of imprisonment, one 60-month term of imprisonment, and two 12-month terms of imprisonment, all to be served concurrently.

Bar Counsel reported Respondent’s convictions to the Court on January 21, 2010. On March 19, 2010, the Court suspended Respondent pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI § 10(c) and directed the Board to institute a formal proceeding to determine the nature of the final discipline to be imposed and specifically to review the nature of the offenses of which Respondent was convicted for the purpose of determining whether the crimes involve moral turpitude within the meaning of D.C.Code § ll-2503(a). Order, In re Blair, No. 10-BG-47 (D.C. March 19, 2010).

ANALYSIS

D.C.Code § ll-2503(a) provides for the mandatory disbarment of a member of the District of Columbia Bar convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. The legal standard for moral turpitude was established in In re Colson, 412 A.2d 1160 (D.C.1979) (en banc). In Colson, the Court held that a crime involves moral turpitude if “the act denounced by the statute offends the generally accepted moral code of mankind,” if it involves “baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellow men or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man,” or if the act is “contrary to justice, honesty, modesty, or good morals.” Id. at 1168 (internal citations omitted). Once the Court determines that a particular crime involves moral turpitude per se, the Board must adhere to that ruling and disbarment must be imposed. Id. at 1165.

The Colson Court determined that obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503 is a crime of moral turpitude per se. Id. at 1168; see also In re Libby, 945 A.2d 1169 (D.C.2008) (per curiam); In re Gormley, 793 A.2d 469 (D.C.2002) (per curiam); In re Laguna,

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40 A.3d 883, 2012 WL 573157, 2012 D.C. App. LEXIS 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-blair-dc-2012.