Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Turgeon

557 S.E.2d 235, 210 W. Va. 181, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 156
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 8, 2000
Docket25189
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 557 S.E.2d 235 (Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Turgeon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Turgeon, 557 S.E.2d 235, 210 W. Va. 181, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 156 (W. Va. 2000).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

This is a lawyer disciplinary matter instituted by the petitioner, the Lawyer Disciplinary Board (“the Board”), against the respondent, attorney Marc P. Turgeon, pursuant to the West Virginia Rules of Lawyer Disciplinary Procedure. The Board alleged that the respondent repeatedly engaged in conduct that violated the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct in the course of representing three different clients.

*183 A Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board conducted extensive hearings on the allegations against the respondent, and now recommends to this Court a number of sanctions against the respondent, including a recommendation that the respondent’s license to practice law be suspended for a period of 2 years.

After a thorough review of the record and arguments of counsel, we agree with the findings and recommendations of the Board.

I.

Rule 3.7 of the Rules of Lawyer Disciplinary Procedure states the standard of proof in a lawyer disciplinary matter quite clearly: “In order to recommend the imposition of discipline of any lawyer, the allegations of the formal charge must be proved by clear and convincing evidence.” See Syllabus Point 1, Lawyer Disciplinary Bd. v. McGraw, 194 W.Va. 788, 461 S.E.2d 850 (1995). Our standard for reviewing recommendations of the Board regarding sanctioning a lawyer for ethical violations was set forth in Syllabus Point 3 of Committee on Legal Ethics v. McCorkle, 192 W.Va. 286, 452 S.E.2d 377 (1994):

A de novo standard applies to a review of the adjudicatory record made before the [Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board] as to questions of law, questions of application of the law to the facts, and questions of appropriate sanctions; this Court gives respectful consideration to the [Hearing Panel Subcommittee’s] recommendations while ultimately exercising its own independent judgment. On the other hand, substantial deference is given to the [Hearing Panel Subcommittee’s] findings of fact, unless such findings are not supported by reliable, probative, and substantial evidence on the whole record.

We have also clearly expressed our role in attorney disciplinary proceedings:

This Court is the final arbiter of legal ethics problems and must make the ultimate decisions about public reprimands, suspensions or annulments of attorneys’ licenses to practice law.

Syllabus Point 3, Committee on Legal Ethics of the West Virginia State Bar v. Blair, 174 W.Va. 494, 327 S.E.2d 671 (1984).

In devising suitable sanctions for attorney misconduct, we have recognized that “ [attorney disciplinary proceedings are not designed solely to punish the attorney, but rather to protect the public, to reassure it as to the reliability and integrity of attorneys and to safeguard its interest in the administration of justice.” Lawyer Disciplinary Bd. v. Taylor, 192 W.Va. 139, 144, 451 S.E.2d 440, 445 (1994). We also asserted in Syllabus Point 2 of In re Daniel, 153 W.Va. 839, 173 S.E.2d 153 (1970), that “[djisbarment of an attorney to practice law is not used solely to punish the attorney but is for the protection of the public and the profession.” In addition to protecting the public and the profession, the discipline of an attorney also must serve as both instruction on the standards for ethical conduct and as a deterrence against similar misconduct to other attorneys. As we stated in Syllabus Point 3 of Committee on Legal Ethics v. Walker, 178 W.Va. 150, 358 S.E.2d 234 (1987):

In deciding on the appropriate disciplinary action for ethical violations, this Court must consider not only what steps would appropriately punish the respondent attorney, but also whether the discipline imposed is adequate to serve as an effective deterrent to other members of the Bar and at the same time restore public confidence in the ethical standards of the legal profession.

With these standards in mind, we examine the charges against the respondent.

II.

The Board alleged that the respondent engaged in misconduct during the representation of 3 separate clients: Douglas Gunnoe, Ronald Wooding, and James Ballard. During the course of 4 separate days of testimony, the Board took evidence regarding these 3 representations. The Board then issued 36 pages of findings, legal conclusions, and recommended sanctions regarding the respondent.

*184 A.

The Douglas Gunnoe Case

In 1991, Douglas Gunnoe was serving a 5-to-18 year imprisonment sentence for second-degree murder, for stabbing to death a counselor whom he met in a substance abuse program. While on work release for the second-degree murder, Mr. Gunnoe met Alicia McCormick, a woman who performed domestic violence counselor duties at the work release center. Mr. Gunnoe was employed doing maintenance at the apartment complex in which Ms. McCormick resided. Ms. McCormick was stabbed to death with a knife in her apartment on or about July 20, 1991. Mr. Gunnoe was charged with the offense, and he admitted to the police certain details of the crime. 1

The respondent was appointed to represent Mr. Gunnoe.

Competence

In the course of representing Mr. Gunnoe, the Board asserted that the respondent violated Rule 1.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which states:

A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.

The respondent had very little experience defending criminal cases, particularly serious cases such as the Gunnoe matter. Consequently, the circuit court appointed additional, more experienced lawyers to assist the respondent, but the other lawyers were unable to participate in Mr. Gunnoe’s defense because the respondent would not adjust his schedule so that the other lawyers might help. The respondent told one of these lawyers that he should not be participating in Mr. Gunnoe’s defense, because the lawyer believed Mr. Gunnoe was guilty.

Through the course of two trials, 2 the respondent engaged in long and repetitious cross-examinations that did not extract information helpful to the defense.

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Bluebook (online)
557 S.E.2d 235, 210 W. Va. 181, 2000 W. Va. LEXIS 156, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawyer-disciplinary-board-v-turgeon-wva-2000.