In re Gossage, S068704.

• Citation: 23 Cal.4th 1080,99 Cal.Rptr.2d 130,5 P.3d 186
• Decision Date: 14 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. S068704.,S068704.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (California)
• Parties: In re Eben GOSSAGE, on Admission.

99 Cal.Rptr.2d 130

23 Cal.4th 1080

5 P.3d 186

In re Eben GOSSAGE, on Admission.

No. S068704.

Supreme Court of California.

August 14, 2000.

Law Offices of Ephraim Margolin, Ephraim Margolin and Bradford L. Battson, San Francisco, for Petitioner Eben Gossage.

Marie M. Moffat, Richard J. Zanassi, Jill A. Sperber, San Francisco, Andrea T. Wachter and Bruce H. Robinson for Respondent State Bar of California.

THE COURT.

While addicted to drugs and alcohol, Eben Gossage (Gossage) killed his sister under circumstances involving moral turpitude, and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He committed other crimes involving dishonesty and moral turpitude around the same time, and was convicted of several forgeries. After committing his last felony offense, and after serving his most recent term in prison, Gossage took steps to change his life. He overcame substance abuse, attended college and law school, and sought admission to the State Bar.

However, while preparing to become a lawyer, Gossage sustained numerous misdemeanor convictions involving, for the most part, willful failure to appear in court and willful failure to obey court orders. These recent offenses are reminiscent of Gossage's behavior in prior judicial proceedings, when he failed to make court ordered appearances and violated court ordered conditions of probation and parole. Moreover, of the 17 criminal convictions received throughout his adult life, Gossage mentioned only four on his application for admission. Such omissions occurred even though full disclosure was required, and even though he swore his application was complete.

The Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar (Committee) conducted a preliminary investigation and declined to certify Gossage for admission on the ground he lacked the requisite good moral character. Gossage appealed to the State Bar Court. Following an evidentiary hearing, the hearing department recommended that he be admitted to the practice of law. By a two-to-one vote, the review department adopted the hearing department's decision.

The Committee sought, and this court issued, a writ of review. We conclude Gossage has not overcome the heavy burden of proving his own rehabilitation, and that he is not presently fit to practice law. In reaching a contrary conclusion, the State Bar Court overlooked relevant considerations and made findings not supported by the record. We will therefore reject the recommendation of admission. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rules 952.6, 954.)

I. Facts

Gossage was born in 1954, the son of a prominent advertising executive in San Francisco. Gossage's parents divorced when he and his younger sister, Amy, were small children. Around age 15, not long after his father died, Gossage began consuming alcohol and illicit drugs. At age 18, Gossage apparently neither worked nor attended school, and injected heroin at a cost of $100 to $200 a day. He lived on money inherited from his father and from his grandfather, who died when Gossage was 18. Gossage also stole to support his drug habit.

In 1973, shortly before turning 19, Gossage stole, forged, and cashed several checks belonging to his mother. He pled guilty to one count of forgery, a felony, and received probation. (See Pen.Code, § 470.) Judgment was entered by the San Francisco Superior Court on October 2, 1973.

A few months later, Gossage, then 19 and on probation, stole, forged, and cashed several checks belonging to his grandmother. He pled guilty to two felony counts of forgery on February 11, 1974. (See Pen.Code, § 470.) Before sentencing, Gossage was referred to a drug rehabilitation program, but was found unsuitable for treatment due to his disruptive behavior and persistent drug use. Hence, on August 5, 1974, the Marin County Superior Court sentenced Gossage to probation including one year in county jail. Around the same time, probation was revoked, and then restored and modified in the San Francisco forgery case. Meanwhile, Gossage's mother died while he was in custody.

After his release from custody, Gossage did not seek employment and continued receiving inheritance money. He began using heroin again, and binged on alcohol. On February 13, 1975, while on probation for forgery, Gossage visited his 19-year-old sister Amy, who lived nearby in San Francisco. The encounter turned violent, and Gossage killed Amy. His testimony at the State Bar hearing made clear that he overreacted to his sister's threatening behavior, continued attacking her with weapons after all threat had ceased, fled the scene without rendering medical aid, and used deceit in order to conceal his guilt. Gossage was arrested and charged with murder.¹ According to Gossage's State Bar testimony, the jury in the criminal trial rejected his claim that he "did not intend to take [Amy's] life." He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. (See Pen.Code, § 192.) On September 3, 1975, an indeterminate sentence was imposed. Gossage spent the next two and one-half years in state prison. He was paroled on February 24, 1978.

Gossage promptly resumed his prior lifestyle — using heroin and squandering his inheritance. He posed an ongoing threat to the public, as evidenced by various crimes committed over the next several years.

In March 1978, a few weeks after his release from prison, Gossage crashed into a parked car while speeding and driving drunk in San Francisco. He pled guilty to reckless driving, a misdemeanor, on June 2, 1978. (See Veh.Code, § 23103.) He received probation for this offense. He also served time in jail for violating parole in the manslaughter case, which terminated in October 1979.

In July 1978, while on probation and parole, Gossage drove intoxicated in Solano County. On November 7, 1978, he pled no contest to the misdemeanor offense of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), and received probation. (See Veh. Code, § 23152.) Gossage completed an alcohol awareness program imposed as a condition of probation, but only after he first failed to appear and the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

In 1979, Gossage stole jewelry and other valuables from a family friend, Mrs. Schwabacher, who had invited him to live in her home to encourage his rehabilitation. She confronted him about the thefts, and caused criminal charges to be filed by the district attorney. Gossage retrieved some of the stolen items from drug dealers and pawnshops. Largely through the efforts of Gossage's criminal defense attorney, LeRue Grim, Mrs. Schwabacher also received compensation from the last of Gossage's inheritance money. Criminal charges were subsequently dismissed.

In May 1981, Gossage was arrested and charged in San Francisco with possession of heroin, a felony (see Health & Saf.Code, § 11350, subd. (a)), and with public intoxication, a misdemeanor (see Pen.Code, § 647, subd. (f)). Gossage pled guilty to both crimes on September 4, 1981. Gossage initially received probation on condition he serve time in county jail. On the surrender date, Gossage failed to appear, and a bench warrant issued for his arrest, apparently because he was in federal custody for reasons discussed further below. The trial court ultimately vacated the original sentence and imposed a state prison term, "sentence suspended and 4 years probation." In June 1981, police officers found Gossage unconscious behind the steering wheel of his car on the Presidio military base near San Francisco. He was tried and convicted in federal district court of DUI with a prior DUI conviction. (See Veh.Code, § 23152.) Judgment was entered February 5, 1982. Gossage served time in federal custody as a result.

In September 1982, Gossage was charged with forgery and other felonies after he impersonated a guest at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, and charged a watch in the gift shop to a room he had not rented. The district attorney agreed to dismiss all criminal charges when Gossage stipulated to revocation of his probation in the 1981 heroin possession case. On November 5, 1982, probation was revoked, suspension of sentence on the underlying crimes was lifted, and Gossage was sent to state prison.²

Gossage testified at the State Bar hearing that he "hit bottom" in prison, and believed he would soon die if he did not stop using drugs and alcohol. resolved to end such behavior and, by all accounts, has been sober since that time. Gossage was paroled from prison in June 1983, and discharged from parole on July 14, 1984.

Upon his release, Gossage enrolled at California State University, Sonoma, informing the school about his manslaughter conviction and recent prison term. The first two years of undergraduate study were spent in an innovative interdisciplinary program in which he performed quite well. He received financial aid in college, and worked 20 to 30 hours a week driving a delivery truck and performing odd jobs. Gossage graduated in 1987.³

Gossage entered Golden Gate University Law School in January 1988, after being interviewed about his criminal record.⁴ A short time later, Professor Minkus, who taught legal ethics, began discussing with Gossage the problems he might face gaining admission to the State Bar due to his past crimes. Gossage performed community service during law school.⁵ He also worked for different lawyers, including Grim, his criminal defense attorney. Gossage finished law school in December 1991. He took and passed the bar examination for the first time in February 1993.

During a six-year period beginning six months before he entered law school, and ending almost six months after he took the bar examination, Gossage repeatedly violated state traffic laws and sustained several misdemeanor convictions for mishandling these matters in court. Gossage ranged from age 33 to age 39 during this time.

In July 1987, Gossage was cited in Marin County for lacking a commercial vehicle weight registration on his truck, and for driving with bald tires and with an expired...