In re Sawyer, 3044.
| Decision Date | 06 April 1956 |
| Docket Number | NO. 3044.,3044. |
| Citation | 41 Haw. 403 |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF HARRIET BOUSLOG SAWYER, ALSO KNOWN AS HARRIET BOUSLOG, AN ATTORNEY AT LAW. |
| Court | Hawaii Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
A. William Barlow (also on the briefs) for the Bar Association of Hawaii, complainant.
Edward N. Sylva, Attorney General, and Morio Omori, Deputy Attorney General (also on the briefs) for the Territory.
John T. McTernan and Myer C. Symonds (also on the briefs) for respondent-licensee Harriet Bouslog Sawyer, also known as Harriet Bouslog.
This is a matter instituted in this court by the Bar Association of Hawaii, an unincorporated association, by a complaint filed herein on July 8, 1954, under former and then in effect Rule 19 of the rules of this court. The complaint alleged as follows:
“I
“That Harriet Bouslog Sawyer, hereinafter referred to as the Licensee, is and at all times hereinafter mentioned continuously has been an attorney at law duly licensed and admitted to practice before all of the courts of the Territory of Hawaii and before the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, and that the said Licensee is now and during all of said times herein mentioned has been a practitioner before said courts.
“That the said Licensee, while appearing as counsel of record for certain defendants in that certain case in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii entitled ‘United States of America, Plaintiff, vs. Charles Kazuyuki Fujimoto, et al, Defendants,’ being Criminal Number 10495 in said court, during the course of the trial of said case, to-wit, on or about December 14, 1952, did say during a speech to a public gathering in Honokaa, Hawaii, that horrible and shocking things were going on at said trial; that a fair trial was impossible; that all of the rules of evidence were being scrapped so the government could make its case; that the rules of evidence and procedure were made up as the case proceeded; and that unless the trial was stopped in its tracks certain new crimes would be created.
“That said Licensee did during the course of said trial and shortly after rendition of a verdict therein visit a juror who was known by her to be indisposed, and thereafter submitted her affidavit concerning an interview with said juror to the presiding judge under circumstances indicating a failure to comply with standards of professional conduct required of practitioners of law licensed to practice before this Court.” (See Bill of Particulars, infra.)
Pursuant to the prayer thereof and to the provisions of said Rule 19, the complaint, contained in this court's secret file number 45, was on July 8, 1954, referred to the committee on legal ethics and unauthorized practice of the supreme court of the Territory of Hawaii.
The said committee to which the matter was referred, subsequently designated and hereinafter referred to as the legal ethics committee, or as the committee, on September 21, 1954, entered an order, requiring the Bar Association of Hawaii, as complainant in the matter, to either file a bill of particulars or amend paragraph “III” of its complaint of July 8, 1954, making more specific its charge therein set forth; and also requiring that on or before October 15, 1954, Harriet Bouslog Sawyer, also known as Harriet Bouslog, “file such special pleas as she wishes to present with respect to the jurisdiction of the Committee and the sufficiency of the complaint and on or before October 15, 1954 file such information as she wishes to present to clarify her request that the hearing of this matter should be postponed until after disposition of the Fujimoto case, supporting such statement by copies of the briefs, excerpts therefrom, or such other information as she deems advisable to show that the matter involved in the complaint filed in the above matter is the same as involved in the appeal of the Fujimoto case.”
The Bar Association of Hawaii, by A. William Barlow, Esq., attorney, submitted a bill of particulars, dated the 29th day of September, 1954, which excepting the title of court and cause, was and is as follows:
“BILL OF PARTICULARS
“Pursuant to an Order entered on September 21, 1954, by the Legal Ethics Committee, the following Bill of Particulars is hereby furnished:
“1--Copy of the affidavit of HARRIET BOUSLOG, subscribed and sworn to before a notary public on the first day of July, 1953, signed by the Licensee HARRIET BOUSLOG and filed in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii on July 1, 1953, in the case of United States of America, Plaintiff, vs. Charles Kazuyuki Fujimoto et al., Defendants, Criminal No. 10,495.
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¦“ ‘TERRITORY OF HAWAII ¦)¦ ¦
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¦ ¦)¦ss.¦
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¦“ ‘CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU¦)¦ ¦
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“ ‘I, HARRIET BOUSLOG, being first duly sworn, on oath depose and say:
“ ‘On Friday evening, June 26, 1953, shortly before 6:00 o'clock I received a telephone call at my home from Ellen Fuller Cabreros, sister of David P. Fuller who sat as a juror in the case of United States v. Fujimoto et al. Mrs. Cabreros asked me if I could come and see her brother; that he was seriously ill.
“ ‘I went to the Fuller home at 1734 Colburn Street and was taken by Mrs. Cabreros and Mrs. Fuller into the front bedroom where Mr. Fuller was lying in bed. He appeared to be gravely ill.
“ ‘I talked with his wife, Helen Fuller, in the living room of their home in the presence of Ellen Fuller Cabreros and her friend, Grace Oshiro, and two of the Fuller children. All members of the family present were upset and in tears at the state of Mr. Fuller. Mrs. Fuller stated that she had called a doctor to examine her husband and informed me that her husband had been ill since the return of the verdict, and particularly since early in the morning of Saturday June 20, 1953, the morning after the verdict was returned.
“ side and their case; that he asked her and the children to forgive him because he had done something wrong and it was too late; he said that one of the jurors said the defendants were innocent, and when the other jurors said, “Guilty, guilty,” that juror threw a book across the room and said they just as well forget about it. Mrs. Fuller said that her husband had wanted to go see the Judge and confess that he had lied, and once or twice tried to leave the house but was too upset mentally and physically and unable to leave the house by himself; that he fell and struck his head. She said that she and other members of her family urged him not to do anything, not to go to see the Judge and to forget about it, that he would only get himself in trouble and would get them in trouble, and that he might go to jail.
“ ‘Mrs. Fuller said that when he tried to leave and was unable to, she and other members of the family put him back in bed and tried to keep him quiet; that he kept shouting and crying and praying saying that the case was a frameup, that he had done wrong, and told the children and her to stay away from him because he was not clean. She said that his condition seemed to get worse and worse as the days went by until on Friday, June 26, 1953, all day he was in bed and did not move or get up at all, and his voice became scarcely a whisper because he was hoarse from the shouting on previous days.
“ ‘After the conversation with Mrs. Fuller, I went in the bedroom where Mr. Fuller was and asked him if he wished a drink of water. He nodded that he did. During this time, Mrs. Fuller, his sister and her friend were present in the room. Mr. Fuller struggled to talk and make himself heard but because of his weakened physical condition and the loss of his voice, it was difficult to understand what he said. He stated understandably, however, that he wanted help and wanted to get a clear conscience and get the wrong he had done straightened out.
“ ‘Shortly after my arrival, a Doctor Chang arrived. I was not present in the bedroom during the conversation between Dr. Chang and Mrs. Fuller, although I could hear the conversation between Dr. Chang and Mrs. Fuller from the living room. After Dr. Chang had talked to Mrs. Fuller, Mrs. Fuller told me that the doctor said after examining her husband that there was nothing physically wrong with him, that he would have to rest in bed, and that it might be necessary to take him to a hospital unless he would get up to go to the bathroom.
“ ‘After the doctor had left, in the presence of Mrs. Fuller, Mrs. Cabreros and her friend, Grace Oshiro, and Mrs. Fuller's eldest daughter, I gave Mr. Fuller water and he was propped up in bed. Again he tried to talk but seemed to find difficulty in doing so. He said he wanted to talk about the matter and would talk to Jack Hall or anyone at any time to get a clear conscience.
“ ‘Shortly after this I left, believing Mr. Fuller needed rest. I made arrangements with Mrs. Fuller and Mr. Fuller to come to see him the next day with Jack Hall.
“ ‘On Saturday morning I was informed by Mrs. Cabreros that her brother was feeling considerably better and wanted to and would be able to see ...
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- Sawyer 19, 20 1959
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Trask, In re
...of unprofessional conduct must be sustained by clear and convincing proof. In re Davis, 15 Haw. 220; In re French, 28 Haw. 47; In re Bouslog-Sawyer, 41 Haw. 403. These cases were decided when the rule governing disciplinary proceedings contained no provision respecting the quantum of proof.......
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Cabral v. McBryde Sugar Co., Ltd., 8129
...Concerning the propriety of the interrogation of jury members after the jury's verdict, we cite the admonition contained in In Re Bouslog-Sawyer, 41 Haw. 403 (1956).3 The trial judge instructed the jury that "the proximate cause of damage is the caused (sic) which in direct, unbroken sequen......