The Florida Bar v. Samaha, 72835

• Citation: 557 So.2d 1349
• Decision Date: 08 February 1990
• Docket Number: No. 72835,72835
• Parties: 15 Fla. L. Weekly S58 THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. John N. SAMAHA, Respondent.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Florida

Page 1349

557 So.2d 1349

15 Fla. L. Weekly S58

THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. John N. SAMAHA, Respondent.

No. 72835.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Feb. 8, 1990.

Rehearing Denied April 12, 1990.

John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, and John T. Berry, Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, and David R. Ristoff, Branch Staff Counsel, Tampa, for complainant.

John A. Weiss, Tallahassee, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

The Florida Bar petitions this Court to review the referee's report recommending that John N. Samaha be publicly reprimanded. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 15, Fla.Const.

The referee's findings of fact are as follows:

In July, 1986, a young lady employed the Respondent to represent her in a personal injury claim growing out of a May, 1986, automobile accident. At the time of employment, the young lady was 19 years old with a ninth grade education and single with a four year old daughter.

The Respondent, at his law office and again at the young lady's apartment, under the guise that it was necessary to prepare the personal injury action, did, without the approval of the young lady, touch her on the back and thighs. He photographed her, in her bedroom, partially nude and wearing a Tens Unit.[ ^* The young lady became angry and as soon as Respondent left her apartment she reported the incident to the police. The Respondent was charged and later entered a no contest plea to Battery in the County Court of Pinellas County.

Based on these facts, the referee recommended that Samaha be found guilty of the following ethical breaches: committing an act contrary to honesty, justice, or good morals; engaging in illegal conduct involving moral turpitude; committing a misdemeanor; and engaging in conduct that adversely reflects on the fitness to practice law. Prior to recommending discipline, the referee took into account the fact that Samaha previously has been publicly reprimanded by this Court. The Florida Bar v. Samaha, 407 So.2d 906 (Fla.1981). The referee then recommended discipline of another public reprimand and a year's probation with psychological counseling as an express condition.

Samaha asks us to affirm the referee's report in all respects. The Florida Bar, on the other hand, argues that Samaha's actions were a serious ethical breach deserving of suspension from the Bar and probation with psychological counseling as a condition of that probation.

Initially, we adopt the referee's findings of fact, which neither party challenges. Based upon these findings, we conclude that the referee has not recommended discipline proportionate to the seriousness of Samaha's offense. Samaha's actions against his client are highly serious and deserve more than a reprimand.

Even the slightest hint of sexual coercion or intimidation directed at a client must be avoided at all costs. In this instance, the referee has found that Samaha went far beyond the limits of propriety. Samaha deceived his client into believing she was obligated to partially disrobe and permit him to touch and photograph her in order to prepare an adequate case. This was a ludicrous deception that could have served no purpose other than the personal gratification of Samaha. During the process of this bizarre "examination," Samaha committed a battery upon his client. These acts constituted direct physical abuse of the client's person and of her personal rights.

We are...