Reaves v. People

57 P.3d 408, 2002 Colo. Discipl. LEXIS 70, 2002 WL 31564693
Supreme Court of Colorado·Decided November 19, 2002·No. No. 02PDJ048·Published

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER READMITTING ROBERT J. REAVES TO THE PRACTICE OF LAW

ATTORNEY REINSTATED TO THE PRACTICE OF LAW

On September 23, 2002, a reinstatement hearing was held pursuant to C.R.C.P. 251.29(b) before a Hearing Board consisting of the Presiding Disciplinary Judge (“PDJ”) and two hearing board members, Thomas J. Overton and Marilyn L. Robertson, both members of the bar. George S. Meyer represented Robert J. Reaves (“Reaves”), attorney registration no. 16675. James C. Coyle, Deputy Attorney Regulation Counsel, repre[409]*409sented the People of the State of Colorado (the “People”). Patricia Gatewood, C.J. White, Ph.D., Sidney McDaniel, Herb Marcus and Fred Lopez testified on behalf of Robert Reaves, who also testified on his own behalf. Exhibits A and D were offered by Reaves and admitted into evidence.

The Hearing Board considered the testimony and exhibits admitted, assessed the credibility of the witnesses, and made the following findings of fact which were established by clear and convincing evidence.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

Reaves has taken the oath of admission and was admitted to the Bar of the State of Colorado on July 7, 1987, and is registered upon the official records of the Supreme Court under attorney registration no. 16675. Reaves was suspended from the practice of law for a period of six months by Order of the Supreme Court issued August 18, 1997. The suspension was effective immediately. People v. Reaves, 943 P.2d 460 (Colo.1997). The six-month suspension arose from three convictions consisting of driving while ability impaired, harassment, and disorderly conduct arising from two separate domestic violence incidents involving his wife.1

In the first incident, Reaves was arrested on a domestic violence charge involving his wife on October 22, 1993. He pled guilty to harassment, a class 3 misdemeanor, see § 18 — 9—lll(l)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1986). He received a deferred judgment contingent on the completion of twenty-four months probation and forty-eight hours useful public service. He was also required to complete a domestic violence evaluation and required to abide by the evaluator’s recommendations. Reaves complied with the conditions of the deferred judgment and the matter was dismissed.

In the second incident, on November 27, 1993, Reaves was again arrested for domestic violence involving his wife. When the police arrived, Reaves did not answer the door. When the police gained entry twenty minutes later, Reaves falsely told them that he had been sleeping for the past two hours and asked them what was going on. He was taken into custody.2 He pled guilty to disorderly conduct, a class 1 petty offense, see § 18-9-106(l)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1986), and was placed on eighteen months probation.

In the third incident, Reaves was arrested on April 10, 1994 for driving under the influence of alcohol. Reaves pled guilty to driving while ability impaired and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail, suspended; twenty-four months probation; forty hours of Level II alcohol education, and forty-eight hours of useful public service. He was also required to use antabuse during probation, pay $416 in court costs, attend a victim impact panel, and regularly participate in the Colorado Lawyer’s Health Program for attorneys with substance abuse problems.

With regard to each of the above convictions, Reaves stipulated that his conduct constituted separate violations of Colo. RPC 8.4(b)(it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer) and C.R.C.P. 241.6(5)(any act or omission which violates the criminal laws of this state or any other state, or of the United States shall constitute grounds for discipline).3 Reaves stipulated that his failure to report each of the three convictions in writing within ten days of the conviction to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel 4 constituted a violation of C.R.C.P. 241.16(b)(Every lawyer subject to these Rules, upon being convicted of a crime ... shall notify the Disciplinary Counsel in writing of such conviction within ten days after the date of the conviction).5 Reaves was [410]*410ordered to pay costs of the disciplinary proceeding within thirty days of the date of the opinion. Reaves, 943 P.2d at 463.

Following his suspension in August 1997, Reaves worked as a teacher with neglected and delinquent juvenile offenders and children with behavior disorders at Denver Children’s Home and Mountview Youth Detention Center. He taught literacy and life skills to at-risk youth.

Reaves has been teaching eighth grade social studies to students at Martin Luther King for the last two years, and has consistently received outstanding teacher evaluations. Additionally, C.J. White, Ph.D, Chairman of the African-American Studies Department at Metropolitan State College employed Reaves as a part-time Adjunct Professor in that department, primarily in the areas of African-American studies and history. As indicative of his trust in Reaves, White asked Reaves to work as an appointed consultant/speaker to the community representing the African-American Studies Department at Metropolitan State College.

Sydney R. McDaniel, a CAC III Alcohol and Drug Counselor for the State of Colorado, confirmed that Reaves has abstained from the use of alcohol for many years, that he is in remission and has abstained from any use of alcohol for over eight years with no relapses.

Since the incidents giving rise to his suspension, there have been no further instances of domestic violence. Reaves attributed the domestic violence events as resulting directly from his alcohol abuse and anger control. His recovery is founded on anger management education, domestic abuse counseling, alcohol counseling, and his sustained sobriety. He has successfully rebuilt his marriage.

Reaves has remained current in the law by taking Continuing Legal Education courses. He has completed a total of forty-seven general and eight ethics credits since November 1999. For approximately an eighteen month period, Reaves performed paralegal services for an attorney who found Reaves to be competent and thorough. While performing paralegal activities, Reaves drafted pleadings and performed research.

Fred Lopez, an attorney with the Public Defender’s office for the Aurora Municipal Court who had supervised Reaves prior to his suspension, held Reaves’s lawyering skills in high regard. While under Lopez’s supervision, Reaves was known as a skilled trial lawyer who was always prompt and prepared. Lopez stated that he would be willing to re-employ Reaves.

During the course of the reinstatement hearing, the People stipulated that Reaves had substantially complied with the terms and conditions of the matters giving rise to his suspension, with all disciplinary orders, and with all of the requirements for reinstatement under C.R.C.P. 251.29. The People stipulated to Reaves’ reinstatement.

II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Initiation of the reinstatement process begins with the submission of a Petition for Reinstatement. C.R.C.P. 251.29 provides in part:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Reaves v. People, 57 P.3d 408, 2002 Colo. Discipl. LEXIS 70, 2002 WL 31564693 (Colo. 2002).

57 P.3d 408 (Reaves v. People) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Klein
756 P.2d 1013 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1988)
People v. Reaves
943 P.2d 460 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1997)
Application of Sharpe
1972 OK 92 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1972)
Goff v. People
35 P.3d 487 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2000)