Jon Alexander is scheduled to go on trial in a California State Bar court this week to determine if he should be punished for professional misconduct or pitied for an incredible string of misfortune and maligning.
State Bar prosecutors have charged Alexander, the district attorney of tiny Del Norte County on California's north coast, with seven counts of wrongdoing ranging from corruption to incompetence. They paint a picture of a reckless lawyer with a history of playing fast and loose with ethical canons.
Alexander and his lawyers, however, describe a big-hearted man under attack from small-town enemies and prosecutors run amok.
"I have a client who I think is being railroaded for no reason," said Alexander's attorney, Nossaman partner Kurt Melchior. "I think he's absolutely innocent of anything that would warrant any kind of discipline upon his license."
The trial is likely to raise novel questions about whether an elected prosecutor accused of wrongdoing is better judged by a bar court or local voters. No one at the State Bar could remember the last time prosecutors pursued charges against a sitting, elected district attorney, acting communications director Laura Ernde said.
The proceedings in San Francisco will also feature testimony from at least three jurists. Deputy trial counsel Linda Yen and senior trial counsel Donald Steedman said in their pretrial statement that they plan to call Del Norte County Superior Court Judge William Follett and his recently retired colleague, Judge Robert Weir. Melchior said Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice William Bedsworth will testify on behalf of Alexander, his former clerk.
The trial starts at a time when the bar is under scrutiny for its disciplinary practices. The state Supreme Court this year has returned 42 discipline cases to the bar with cryptic instructions to re-evaluate stipulated punishments "in light of the applicable attorney discipline standards." Bar leaders have interpreted the order as a formal hint that some discipline may have been too lenient.
"Ever since that happened the Office of the Chief Trial Counsel has taken an extremely hard line on the [disciplining] standards," said Susan Margolis, a veteran of representing lawyers facing bar prosecutions. "Basically the office's position is, we're not going to deviate from the standards. If the court wants to, fine. ... That's something I'm sure [Alexander] is going to have to contend with if culpability is found in this case."
With a professional resume pocked with suspensions and bar-ordered discipline?some of it tied to his well-publicized past use of methamphetamine?Alexander is likely facing disbarment and the loss of his career if the charges are upheld. And it's clear the DA and his counsel are not going down without a big fight.
Last week, Alexander filed a 131-page lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court seeking unspecified damages from the bar and four named individuals for a host of claims related to the bar charges, including violation of his civil rights, defamation and negligence. A judge denied his request for a temporary restraining order seeking a halt on his bar trial.
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Source: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202574978421&rss=rss_ga_news
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