James G., Application of, 1

Decision Date04 August 1983
Docket NumberNo. 1,1
Citation462 A.2d 1198,296 Md. 310
PartiesIn the Matter of the APPLICATION OF JAMES G. for Admission to the Bar of Maryland. Misc.(Adv.).
CourtMaryland Court of Appeals

Richard A. Buddeke, Baltimore, on behalf of applicant.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and SMITH, ELDRIDGE, COLE, DAVIDSON, RODOWSKY and COUCH, JJ.

MURPHY, Chief Judge.

Whether the applicant in this case currently possesses the requisite moral character that would justify his admission to the Bar of Maryland is the issue before us for determination.

Because of applicant's past criminal record, the Character Committee for the Third Judicial Circuit held a hearing on October 21, 1980, pursuant to Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Maryland. The Committee recommended unanimously to the State Board of Law Examiners that the applicant not be admitted to the Maryland Bar. The Board subsequently conducted an evidentiary hearing on November 2, 1981. By a divided vote (3-2), the Board recommended to the Court that the applicant be admitted. We considered the matter at a hearing at which the applicant appeared and spoke on his own behalf. Because we conclude that the evidence is clear and convincing that the applicant has been completely rehabilitated and possesses present good moral character, we shall order his admission.

The applicant resided with his family in Chevy Chase, Maryland, for the first fifteen years of his life, then in Bethesda for four years, after which he moved to Baltimore in 1964, when the applicant was nineteen years of age. Although reared under relatively favorable economic conditions in affluent residential areas, the quality of applicant's home life was far from ideal. His parents, both of whom were attorneys, argued constantly, frequently escalating to a point of physical confrontation. Eventually, during 1959, there was a separation, apparently final, although no divorce action was initiated. Applicant, by his own choice, resided in his father's home until, in 1964, at age nineteen, he married.

Applicant's marital experiences have, similarly, been less than storybook in character. A son of his first marriage was born with Down's Syndrome in October of 1964. His wife was murdered in 1967, during an apparent attempted robbery of the tourist home which they managed. The applicant's son ultimately was committed to institutional care as James was unable to provide proper care for him. The applicant remarried and has established a positive relationship with a stepson, although James and his second wife are currently separated.

During the six-month period from April to October, 1967, the applicant became involved in a series of bizarre criminal episodes which resulted in charges against him of conspiring to commit forgery, forgery and uttering, murder and accessory to commit murder, homicide and assault. The applicant pled nolo contendere to the charge of conspiracy to commit forgery of a bank check drawn by his mother, and, in September, 1968, he received a suspended sentence. He was found guilty of six counts of forgery and uttering arising out of the use of a misappropriated credit card and received a sentence of twenty months to five years incarceration. Full restitution was made prior to his arrest for this offense. Although arrested for murder and as an accessory to commit murder in the matter of the death of his first wife, the charges against James were dismissed without trial. Arrested on charges of homicide and assault arising out of a Halloween night stabbing of a gas station attendant by one of his companions, James was found not guilty. The applicant subsequently offered a plea of nolo contendere to simple assault, for which he received a suspended sentence.

The Halloween night stabbing incident occurred just after the applicant enrolled at the University of Baltimore Law School. As a result of his incarceration without bond until December, 1967, he was unable to continue at the law school. As a result of his conviction for forgery and uttering, James was incarcerated for twenty-one months from November, 1970, to August, 1972. The applicant earned a work-related commendation from prison officials during his incarceration and, from the time of his parole in August, 1972, until the present, the applicant has not been involved in any criminal activity.

James has worked continuously at a variety of jobs while simultaneously attending college and law school. He graduated from the University of Baltimore Law School in 1980, applied for admission to the Bar of Maryland on May 17, 1980, and sat for and successfully passed the July, 1980, bar examination. He applied for admission to the Bar of the District of Columbia and was admitted in that jurisdiction after successfully passing the February, 1981, Bar examination. Prior to admission, James' present moral character fitness was favorably considered by the District of Columbia authorities. James has been actively practicing in that jurisdiction without incident for over two years since his admission.

We have said that no litmus test exists by which to determine whether an applicant possesses the good moral character requisite for admission to the Bar of Maryland. In re Application of A.T., 286 Md. 507, 408 A.2d 1023 (1979); In re Application of David H., 283 Md. 632, 392 A.2d 83 (1978). We summarized the analysis which must be undertaken in such a determination in In re Application of Allan S., 282 Md. 683, 387 A.2d 271 (1978). In that case, the applicant for admission had been arrested twice, once in 1966 for stealing a bottle of rum and again in 1971 for stealing a tape measure. After a hearing, the Character Committee concluded that the applicant had met the burden of proving that he was presently possessed of good moral character and recommended that he be admitted to the Bar of Maryland. The Board of Law Examiners, however, came to the contrary conclusion following a hearing and recommended that he not be admitted.

In the course of our determination that the applicant possessed the requisite moral character fitness for admission, we said:

"Where, as here, an applicant for admission to the Bar is shown to have committed a crime, the nature of the offense must be taken into consideration in determining whether his present moral character is good....

Although a prior conviction is not conclusive of a lack of present good moral character, particularly where the offense occurred a number of years previous to the applicant's request for admission, it adds to his burden of establishing present good character by requiring convincing proof of his full and complete rehabilitation.... Thus, a prior conviction must be taken into account in the overall measurement of character and considered in connection with other evidence of subsequent rehabilitation and present moral character.... It is not without significance in this regard, as bearing upon moral fitness, that an applicant for admission to the bar refuses to admit his criminal conduct....

The ultimate test of present moral character applicable to original admissions to the Bar, is whether, viewing the applicant's character in the period subsequent to his misconduct, he has so convincingly rehabilitated himself that it is proper that he become a member of a profession which must stand free from all suspicion.... That the absence of good moral character in the past is secondary to the existence of good moral character in the present is a cardinal principle in considering applications for original admission to the Bar." Id. 282 Md. at 690, 387 A.2d 271. (Citations omitted.)

In applying these principles to the facts in Allan S., we said:

"[A]pplicant's first offense occurred in 1966, eleven years prior to the hearing before the Board; the 1971 offense occurred almost seven years prior to that hearing. While there can be no doubt that each of these offenses, though petty in nature, involved moral turpitude, the applicant readily admitted that he committed the crimes even though he was never tried or convicted of either of them. In this respect, he was most candid with the Board and we cannot agree, in view of the record in this case, that the applicant did not admit that his acts were morally wrong and indefensible. On the contrary, he did so repeatedly, both before the Character Committee and the Board, and we are satisfied that he is deeply distressed that he participated in such conduct.

In undertaking to prove his good moral character, the applicant was largely limited to the production of opinion evidence by those who know him. And letters attesting to his good character are entitled to respectful consideration.... The record before us contains letters from a number of members of the legal and lay community, all to the effect that the applicant presently possesses the good moral character required of a member of the Maryland Bar. One letter, from a former Securities Commissioner of Maryland, for whom the applicant has worked as a law clerk, contains a particularly strong endorsement of his present good moral character and he testified to the same effect at the hearing. Other similarly impressive expressions of unqualified trust in applicant's moral character are also in evidence.

There was no evidence in the record even remotely suggesting that the applicant has been involved in any misconduct in the years following the 1971 theft offense. The inference to be drawn is that during this interim period there has been a decided improvement in the applicant's conduct and behavior." Id. at 691-92, 387 A.2d 271. (Citations omitted.)

On the basis of the evidence presented, we held that Allan S. met the burden of proving his rehabilitation and present good moral character and we admitted him to the Bar of Maryland.

The principles enunciated in Allan S. have been applied in subsequent cases; see, for example, In re Application of G.L.S., 292 Md. 378, 439 A.2d 1107 (1982); In re...

To continue reading

Request your trial
11 cases
  • Prager, Matter of
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • February 15, 1996
    ...evidence where the applicant has been convicted of a felony. See In re Cason, supra at 808, 294 S.E.2d 520; Matter of James G., 296 Md. 310, 314, 462 A.2d 1198 (1983); Matter of Strait, 120 N.J. 477, 489, 577 A.2d 149 (1990); In re Application of Davis, 61 Ohio St.2d 371, 372, 403 N.E.2d 18......
  • In re Application of Wiesner
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court Appellate Division
    • March 20, 2012
    ...In re Polin, 630 A.2d 1140 [D.C.1993][nine-year-old conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine]; In re Application of James G., 296 Md. 310, 462 A.2d 1198 [1983] [applicant charged with, albeit not convicted of, two murders, but convicted of simple assault and forgery and uttering, 12 ......
  • In re Manville
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Columbia District
    • June 28, 1985
    ...N.J. 458, 467 A.2d 1084, 1091 (1983); In re Appeal of Evinger, 629 P.2d 363, 367 (Okl. 1981). 11. Accord In re Application of James G., 296 Md. 310, 312, 462 A.2d 1198, 1200-01 (1983); In re Application of G.L.S., 292 Md. 378, 392, 439 A.2d 1107, 1115 (1982); In re Application of A.T., 286 ......
  • Admission of Brown
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • April 11, 2006
    ...prove his good moral character; and then, most importantly, whether the applicant has been rehabilitated. In re Application of James G., 296 Md. 310, 316-17, 462 A.2d 1198, 1202 (1983); Application of Allan S., 282 Md. at 692, 387 A.2d at 277. Although the Board's recommendation to admit Mr......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT