Bevans, Application of, SC

• Decision Date: 21 December 1982
• Docket Number: No. SC,SC
• Citation: 655 P.2d 573,294 Or. 248
• Parties: In the Matter of the Application of Russell D. BEVANS for reinstatement as an Active Member of the Oregon State Bar. 28036.
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

Page 573

655 P.2d 573

294 Or. 248

In the Matter of the Application of Russell D. BEVANS for reinstatement as an Active Member of the Oregon State Bar.

No. SC 28036.

Supreme Court of Oregon In Banc.

Argued and Submitted Dec. 6, 1982.

Decided Dec. 21, 1982.

Richard E. Miller, Eugene, argued the cause for applicant. With him on the briefs was Hershner, Hunter, Miller, Moulton & Andrews, Eugene.

Paul D. Clayton, Eugene, argued the cause and filed the brief for the Oregon State Bar.

PER CURIAM.

This is a proceeding upon an application for reinstatement to membership in the Oregon State Bar. On July 10, 1981, applicant was convicted upon his guilty plea of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. The next day he informed the Supreme Court by letter. On October 14, 1981, this court summarily suspended applicant from the practice of law pursuant to Section 4, Rules of Procedure. ¹ Within the month, applicant applied for reinstatement. Pursuant to ORS 9.525, the court directed that the matter be heard by a trial board and then, pursuant to ORS 9.535, reviewed by the disciplinary review board. ²

After an extensive hearing by the trial board we have the benefit of fully developed facts as well as especially thoughtful majority and separate opinions from both the trial board and the disciplinary review board. All agreed that the applicant should be reinstated after a period of suspension. They disagreed as to the length of suspension adequate for an appropriate sanction.

Because reinstatement proceedings are infrequent and there has been some procedural uncertainty in the course of this proceeding, we first address certain procedural aspects of the case.

It is important to recognize that a Section 4 suspension for conviction of crime is a discrete proceeding. It is not and should not be confused with a disciplinary proceeding. Section 6 expressly states the existence of a Section 4 suspension does not preclude a disciplinary proceeding. Such a suspension, like that in a disciplinary proceeding, is for the protection of the public, but a Section 4 suspension is indefinite whereas a disciplinary sanction can be for a term. A suspension under Section 4 ends only if the member is reinstated by action of the court. (The current version, Section 4(e), provides for suspension "until further order of the court.")

Section 18, now applicable to reinstatements following Section 4 suspensions, states rules which were applicable to this proceeding only as a matter of general principle. It requires that a suspended member seeking reinstatement must do so by formal application. Section 18(b) specifies that the applicant must show that "he or she has good moral character, general fitness to practice law and that his or her resumption of the practice of law in this state will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or the public interest." ³ At a hearing upon an application, the burden is upon the applicant, because if no showing is made, the suspension would continue indefinitely. The applicant must prove that the allegations in the application regarding his or her present moral character and fitness are true. The grounds of the suspension are not placed in issue by the application except as they may reflect upon the applicant's present state. ⁴ If the applicant successfully makes a showing, the application for reinstatement is to be allowed and the suspension terminated; if not, the application is to be denied and the suspension continued. Conceivably, a termination may be conditioned, but we need not decide that in this case.

Here, the application is not in the words of the rule, but the allegations embody the same notions. Applicant's evidence persuades us that the averments of his application are true. Although the crime for which he was convicted unquestionably involved moral turpitude, we are persuaded that it does not reflect upon his present moral character and fitness. It arose from his personal rather than professional life. Applicant recognized the wrongfulness of his unlawful conduct and discontinued it a year before it was reported. He has dealt forthrightly and constructively with his problems, never minimizing them or casting responsibility upon others. In this respect, compare In re Easton, 289 Or. 99, 610 P.2d 270 (1980), with In re Jolles, 235 Or. 262, 383 P.2d 388 (1963). Psychological counseling has been effective. The extraordinary degree of positive intervention and monitoring by the applicant's church, combined with the applicant's wholehearted participation, has been an unusually effective resource in this case. Except for this transgression, applicant's record as a member of his family, his church and his community has been exemplary....