MAHONING COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION v. DIMARTINO.
No. 2009-1534
Supreme Court of Ohio
February 3, 2010
124 Ohio St.3d 360, 2010-Ohio-247
Submitted October 20, 2009
Per Curiam.
{¶ 2} The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline now recommends that we suspend respondent’s license for six months, but stay the last three months of the suspension, again on conditions that he complete one year of monitored probation and commit no further misconduct. The recommendation is based on the board’s findings that respondent committed bigamy in North Carolina, a felony in that state, and thereby violated
{¶ 3} Although the sanction recommended by the board is in response solely to the misconduct committed in this case, our disposition must also reflect that respondent engaged in this misconduct during the one-year stayed suspension imposed on July 18, 2007. Because respondent violated the terms of that stay, we lift the stay, reinstate that suspension, and as a sanction for the impropriety in this case, order a six-month suspension to run concurrently with the one-year reinstated suspension.
{¶ 4} Relator, Mahoning County Bar Association, charged respondent with one count of misconduct, alleging among other ethical breaches a violation of
{¶ 5} The parties have not objected to the board’s report.
Misconduct
{¶ 6} Respondent, a seasoned criminal defense attorney, married his longtime girlfriend in early August 2001. The couple eventually separated when respondent’s wife asked him to move out, and in September 2005, they sought the dissolution of their marriage in the Portage County Common Pleas Court. That court dismissed the dissolution proceeding when respondent’s wife failed in January 2006 to appear at a hearing.
{¶ 7} In April 2007, respondent filed in the same court an action for divorce. He had become involved with another woman in the time since he separated from his wife and had arranged to be remarried in North Carolina on July 7, 2007. Respondent expected his divorce to be finalized by that time; however, negotiations to terminate the marriage broke down, and the divorce did not become final by respondent’s new wedding date.
{¶ 8} Respondent nevertheless married again. Beforehand, respondent signed a marriage-license application in which he falsely represented that it was his first marriage. Respondent did not disclose to his new wife that he was not yet divorced.
{¶ 9} Respondent’s first wife alerted North Carolina authorities of his remarriage, and he was investigated for the crime of bigamy, a felony in North Carolina. She also caused a grievance to be filed with relator, alleging that respondent’s failure to terminate one marriage before entering another constituted unethical conduct. Prosecutors in North Carolina ultimately opted not to prosecute. Respondent’s divorce became final in August 2007, and he then legally married his second wife.
{¶ 10} Respondent admitted that his conduct constituted a violation of
Sanction
{¶ 11} When imposing sanctions for attorney misconduct, we consider relevant factors, including the ethical duties that the lawyer violated and sanctions imposed in similar cases. Stark Cty. Bar Assn. v. Buttacavoli, 96 Ohio St.3d 424, 2002-Ohio-4743, 775 N.E.2d 818, ¶ 16. In making a final determination, we also weigh evidence of the aggravating and mitigating factors listed in
{¶ 12} Instances of bigamy involving Ohio lawyers are rare. In Cuyahoga Cty. Bar Assn. v. Muttalib (2001), 90 Ohio St.3d 529, 740 N.E.2d 246, however, we indefinitely suspended a lawyer from practice because he failed to act on behalf of three clients, failed to return fees paid by those clients, and had also married without first terminating a prior marriage. That lawyer had also abandoned his first wife and four children. He then ignored the disciplinary process, making it necessary for a disposition by default.
{¶ 13} Respondent’s situation is different. Although his disciplinary record, which includes several instances of client neglect, is an aggravating factor under
{¶ 14} Also unlike the lawyer in Muttalib, respondent cooperated in the disciplinary process, a mitigating factor under
{¶ 15} We accept the board’s recommendation insofar as it recommends imposition of a six-month suspension for the act of bigamy. But respondent violated
{¶ 16} We therefore lift the stay and reinstate the one-year suspension from practicing law in Ohio as ordered in Mahoning Cty. Bar Assn. v. DiMartino, 114 Ohio St.3d 174, 2007-Ohio-3605, 870 N.E.2d 1166. As a sanction for the impropriety committed in this case, respondent’s license to practice law in Ohio is also
Judgment accordingly.
MOYER, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’CONNOR, O’DONNELL, LANZINGER,
Green, Haines & Sgambati and Ronald E. Slipski; and Comstock, Springer & Wilson Co., L.P.A., and David C. Comstock Jr., for relator.
Law Office of John B. Juhasz and John B. Juhasz, for respondent.
