 |
| Garnder's name was published in relation to a pending disciplinary hearing, which indicates she is the subject of an alleged ethical violation. |
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) -- An investigation by the state's Chief Disciplinary Counsel has found probable cause that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner committed professional misconduct, after complaints made by the legal team representing former Governor Eric Greitens.
A state website published Tuesday Gardner’s name in relation to a pending disciplinary hearing, that indicates she is the subject of an alleged ethical violation. The Circuit Attorney will likely face a disciplinary panel to weigh the allegations and make a finding. Ultimately punishment would be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court and could range from an admonishment to suspension or revocation of her law license.
It's not known yet the exact nature of the violations. A request for comment from Kim Gardner's office went unanswered Tuesday evening.
Attorneys representing former Governor Greitens filed complaints against Gardner's law license shortly after the conclusion of the criminal case back in 2018.
Then-state representative Paul Curtman also filed a bar complaint, but recently told News 4 he had been informed his complaint was not moving forward. Allegations from the Greitens team claim Gardner had an ethical obligation to correct the record during a deposition of private investigator William Tisaby. Gardner hired Tisaby who conducted interviews with the woman at the center of the invasion of privacy charge against Greitens. Tisaby has since been charged with six counts of perjury and one count of tampering with evidence, after a special prosecutor found Tisaby had lied under oath. But Gardner was with Tisaby in those instances and allegations indicated she had a professional responsibility to ensure that Tisaby's statements were correct. She has claimed she was not representing Tisaby and therefore did not have to do so.
Attorney Alan Pratzel is the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the state and his office is the entity in charge of investigating complaints against lawyers in Missouri. It is an agency of the Missouri Supreme Court, funded by lawyers’ dues, not taxpayer funds, and is separate from The Missouri Bar.
"Complaints do happen," said Peter Joy, Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law. He told News 4, on average, a lawyer may be the subject of three to five complaints. "If they investigate and find no basis for it, that's the end of it," Joy said of the disciplinary process in Missouri.
For example, in 2018, the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel received 1,748 complaints and opened 685 formal investigations. Though disciplinary actions may be taken in another year, in 2018, investigations resulted in 16 lawyers being disbarred, 23 being suspended, and 92 receiving written admonitions, among other outcomes.
Either way, generally speaking, Joy says a lawyer never wants to have a complaint taken even one step further.
"I think it’s safe to say that lawyers uniformly don't want to be in
that position and you certainly don't want to be in the position of
losing your ability to have a livelihood as a lawyer, which would happen
if you get a suspension or disbarred." Joy said.
No comments:
Post a Comment