In Re Spears

964 So. 2d 293, 2007 WL 2460199
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedAugust 31, 2007
Docket2007-B-0499
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 964 So. 2d 293 (In Re Spears) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Spears, 964 So. 2d 293, 2007 WL 2460199 (La. 2007).

Opinion

964 So.2d 293 (2007)

In re Glenda Ann SPEARS.

No. 2007-B-0499.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

August 31, 2007.

ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

PER CURIAM.

This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Glenda Ann Spears, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana but currently on interim suspension pursuant to our order in In re: Spears, 04-2373 (La.9/29/04), 883 So.2d 438.

UNDERLYING FACTS

On September 22, 2004, respondent pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to one felony count of computer fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4),[1] and one felony count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. According to the factual basis for respondent's guilty plea, in April 2004, the Chief Judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court reported to the FBI that a person who was on drug probation was complaining that his probation officer, Angela Kirkland, was pressuring him to pay $500 in order to be released from probation and aftercare. The probationer subsequently agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and to record his conversations with Ms. Kirkland. On April 26, 2004, the probationer met Ms. Kirkland, and in a recorded conversation, she accepted $360, a portion of the requested $500 payment. During the conversation, Ms. Kirkland told the probationer that as a result of the payment he would be released from drug court probation and aftercare. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Kirkland recommended to the sentencing judge that the defendant be released from probation and aftercare, and he was released.

Special Agents of the FBI and officers assigned to the Corruption Task Force of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) then began interviewing other persons who had been released from probation. *294 This investigation revealed that respondent, who was then employed by the Orleans Indigent Defender Program (OIDP) had received a $500 payment from a probationer on November 15, 2003. Respondent split this fee with Ms. Kirkland, who in turn recommended to the court that the probationer be released from probation.[2] The judge accepted this recommendation, and the probationer was released from probation.

On July 12, 2004, the FBI and the NOPD approached Ms. Kirkland, who admitted that she had engaged in criminal activity. She also implicated respondent in the scheme, which had been ongoing for nearly a year. With Ms. Kirkland's cooperation, agents subsequently taped three of her telephone calls with respondent. In these calls, Ms. Kirkland told respondent that she had several other probationers who wanted to be released from probation and aftercare. Respondent said that the fee, which she would subsequently collect and split with Ms. Kirkland, would be $2,500 per probationer.

As a result of these calls between respondent and Ms. Kirkland, on July 16, 2004, an undercover law enforcement agent posing as a probationer met with respondent and paid her $2,500.[3] During the meeting, which was audio and video recorded and under the surveillance of FBI agents and NOPD officers, respondent accepted the $2,500 payment and agreed that the probationer would be released from probation because she was working with Ms. Kirkland. Respondent then arranged a meeting with Ms. Kirkland and split half of the $2,500 she had received from the undercover agent. The money respondent turned over to Ms. Kirkland was recovered by the FBI and was the exact money that had been given to the undercover agent.

On July 21, 2004, as a result of additional consensual phone calls made to respondent by Ms. Kirkland, respondent met with another undercover agent posing as a probationer. This meeting was also audio and video recorded and under surveillance, and respondent again asked for and received $2,500 from the agent. After the payment was made, respondent met with Ms. Kirkland under the overpass at Poydras and North Broad Streets and paid her $1,250. That money was recovered by the FBI and respondent was immediately arrested.

Following respondent's guilty plea to the conspiracy and computer fraud charges,[4] she was sentenced on December 14, 2004 to three years of probation. Respondent was placed on home detention for a period of six months, and required to wear an electronic monitoring device. She was also fined $10,000, payable in equal monthly installments of $250 beginning on February 1, 2005, and was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service after completing the period of home detention.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS

In March 2005, the ODC filed one count of formal charges against respondent, alleging that her conduct constituted a violation of Rules 8.4(b) (commission of a criminal *295 act reflecting adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer), 8.4(c) (engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation), and 8.4(d) (engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Respondent answered the formal charges and admitted her conviction, but she denied that her conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. Respondent requested that a hearing be convened and that she be disciplined "not exceeding the term imposed by the United States District Court."

Hearing Committee Report

This matter proceeded to a formal hearing in August 2005. Considering the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing, the hearing committee found that respondent pleaded guilty to the criminal charges against her, namely conspiracy to commit computer fraud and knowingly and intentionally and with intent to defraud, accessing and causing access to a protected computer by exceeding authorized access and obtaining something of value. The committee further found that the facts of respondent's case do not exactly match the elements of the crimes charged, but that it was in her best interest to accept the plea that was offered. Based on these factual findings, the committee determined that respondent violated Rules 8.4(b), 8.4(c), and 8.4(d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

The committee found that respondent intentionally violated duties owed to the public and as a professional, and that her conduct resulted in substantial injury to the legal profession. The baseline sanction for respondent's misconduct is disbarment.

In mitigation, the committee recognized the following factors: absence of a prior disciplinary record, full and free disclosure to the disciplinary board and a cooperative attitude toward the proceedings, inexperience in the practice of law (admitted 1998), good character and reputation, imposition of other penalties or sanctions, and remorse. The committee also noted that respondent "is a single parent raising a young child." In aggravation, the committee found that respondent's conduct evidenced a dishonest or selfish motive, in that she stood to gain monetarily from her misconduct. The committee also observed that respondent "worked in the court system and her actions had a direct affect upon the public's confidence in the Orleans Parish Criminal Judicial Court system."

In light of the mitigating factors present, the committee determined that it is appropriate to deviate downward from the baseline sanction of disbarment.

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Bluebook (online)
964 So. 2d 293, 2007 WL 2460199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-spears-la-2007.