Thanks to a judge’s creative disciplinary technique, one Ohio lawyer was ordered to repent for his courtroom sins in a manner more typical of the opening sequence of The Simpsons than for a legal proceeding.
Now, the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct, as part of a disciplinary assessment, has referenced the trial judge’s order that imposed a fine and what’s being called a “Bart Simpson-esque” punishment. Cleveland criminal defense attorney Anthony Baker had to repeatedly handwrite a series of “I will not . . . ” sentences to show his contrition for disrupting a trial. The board recommended that Baker should be publicly reprimanded, but should not lose his license to practice law.
Baker had represented a defendant in a domestic violence proceeding before Judge Nancy Fuerst. Baker asked the court to read a jury instruction on self-defense, and Fuerst declined to do so. Instead opting to simply appeal the judge’s ruling, Baker “stag[ed] a protest” by sitting in the back of the courtroom. According to an official report, Baker engaged in repeated efforts to stop the trial from proceeding, and when that didn’t work, he left the defense table and stood behind a television stand to show that he refused to participate.
Baker’s client was convicted, and Baker was held in contempt of court and ordered to pay $500. Additionally, Baker was ordered to handwrite, “I will not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice or in any other conduct that adversely reflects on my fitness to practice law,” and “I shall not engage in conduct intended to disrupt a tribunal or engage in undignified or discourteous conduct that is degrading to a tribunal” — 25 times.
Source: Law & Crime
