Justices reject bid to restore ex-lawyer

In a 5-2 decision, the state Supreme Court declined Thursday to reinstate the law license of an attorney who pleaded guilty to a felony over a decade ago.

In 1999, Harold Wayne Madden pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, a Class E felony, because he had failed to report witnessing a drug transaction between his secretary and a friend.

He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and sentenced to two years’ probation. During that time he was ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, to undergo another program sponsored by the Federal Probation Office, and to undergo drugand-alcohol testing. Under federal guidelines, he could have served up to 3 years in prison for a Class E felony conviction.

He voluntarily surrendered his license in 2000, but in 2010 applied to be readmitted to the bar, saying that his crime took place during a period when he was abusing alcohol and drugs.

He said he has since straightened his life out - he underwent drug treatment and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He now works for the Public Defender Commission as a part-time investigator and mitigation specialist, according to the court ruling.

The court’s rules bar someone convicted of a “serious” crime from having his law license reinstated unless the crime involves the mental state of negligence or recklessness.

Five of the justices ruled that Madden’s crime did not fall under this exception.

Most federal appellate courts have interpreted misprision of a felony to be when someone has knowledge of a felony being committed, fails to notify the authorities, and takes affirmative steps to conceal the crime.

Madden argued that though he pleaded guilty to the charge, he did not take any steps to conceal the drug transaction he witnessed.

“However correct Madden may be in his assertion that there was no allegation that he took affirmative steps to conceal the crime, this does not change the fact that he pled guilty to the federal offense of misprision of a felony and is bound by that plea,” Justice Robert L. Brown wrote in the court’s opinion.

Because his crime involved concealment, the justices ruled that Madden’s crime did not fall under the exception to the rule that those convicted of serious crimes cannot be reinstated to the bar.

At the Supreme Court, the case is 12-345; In Re Petition for Readmission of Harold Wayne Madden to the Arkansas Bar.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 06/23/2012

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