Louisiana State Bar Ass'n v. Karst

• Decision Date: 23 February 1983
• Docket Number: No. 81-B-1327,81-B-1327
• Citation: 428 So.2d 406
• Parties: LOUISIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION v. C. Edward KARST.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 406

428 So.2d 406

LOUISIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION v. C. Edward KARST.

No. 81-B-1327.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Feb. 23, 1983.

Rehearing Denied March 25, 1983.

Thomas O. Collins, Jr., Richard A. Deas, New Orleans, Roland J. Achee, Shreveport, Robert J. Boudreau, Lake Charles, Wood Brown, III, New Orleans, Sam J. D'Amico, Baton Rouge, Carrick R. Inabnett, Monroe, Harold J. Lamy, New Orleans, Alfred S. Landry, Jr., Lafayette, Phillippi P. St. Pee, Metairie, Gerard F. Thomas, Jr., Natchitoches, for plaintiff-relator.

C. Edward Karst, Alexandria, L. Edwin Greer, Shreveport, for defendant-respondent.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDING

BLANCHE, Justice.

This disciplinary proceeding was instituted by the Louisiana State Bar Association, through its Committee on Professional Responsibility, against C. Edward Karst for conduct which the Bar charges as being in violation of Disciplinary Rules 1-102 ¹ and 8-102(B) ² of the Code of Professional Responsibility.

The charges of misconduct were contained in the following specifications, notice of which was given respondent Karst:

I. SPECIFICATION--AUGUST 7, 1980

SPECIFICATION NO. 1--COMMITTEE FILE NO. 6160

In connection with the above-numbered Committee file, it has been alleged:

You were defendant in that certain case in the Ninth Judicial District Court in and for the Parish of Rapides captioned "Joe E. Fryar vs. C. Edward Karst", bearing Docket number 97,699.

That said case was tried before Judge Guy E. Humphries, Jr. and that you were cast in judgment.

That since said decision, you have publicly accused Judge Humphries of being dishonest, corrupt and engaging in fraud and misconduct. That you have accused Judge Humphries of being blackmailed or of accepting bribes to influence his decision.

More specifically, your unfounded allegations of misconduct have been disseminated and printed in letter to the "Town Talk Newspaper" in Alexandria on August 11, 1978; advertisement in the "Alexandria News Weekly" of August 24, 1978; in suit being Docket number 106,288, Ninth Judicial District Court captioned "C. Edward Karst vs. Joe E. Fryar"; in briefs before the Third Circuit bearing Docket number 6603, captioned "C. Edward Karst, plaintiff-appellant v. Joe E. Fryar, defendant-appellee."

That you caused the aforementioned brief to be published on September 1, 1978 in the "Town Talk" and that said brief contained the same unfounded charges of judicial misconduct against Judge Guy E. Humphries, Jr.

That you did verbally and publicly make the same unfounded charges in depositions taken in the aforementioned litigation.

That you have also falsely accused Attorney J. Minos Simon as being the party responsible for the alleged misconduct.

That all of the above constitutes violations of Disciplinary Rule 1-102 and Disciplinary Rule 8-102(B).

A Commissioner was appointed by this court for the purpose of conducting an evidentiary hearing on these charges. Thereafter, the Commissioner filed a report in which he found that respondent Karst had indeed made and disseminated unfounded accusations of misconduct against Judge Humphries and Attorney Simon. The Commissioner concluded, however, that respondent Karst had not violated DR 8-102(B) because he did not "knowingly" make false accusations against the Judge. Evidently, the Commissioner reasoned that respondent's psychological problems caused him to "genuinely believe" in the truth of his accusations and that such genuine belief would excuse him from violation of the rule.

The Commissioner did find that respondent had violated DR 1-102(A)(5) and (6), and concluded that Karst's mental and emotional instability rendered him unqualified to continue to practice law. Accordingly, the Commissioner recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of law until such time as he could prove by clear and convincing evidence that his mental and emotional disability had been removed.

The Committee on Professional Responsibility filed a concurrence and opposition to the report of the Commissioner, and the respondent Karst filed an answer thereto. Basically, the Committee opposes the Commissioner's conclusion that Karst did not violate DR 8-102(B) because he genuinely believed in the truth of the accusations. The Committee also objects to the Commissioner's recommendation of an indefinite period of suspension and instead recommends that Karst be suspended for at least one year with readmission predicated upon proof of rehabilitation.

Karst, on the other hand, maintains that at the time of the alleged misconduct, he was suffering from diminished responsibility brought on by extreme stress and personal anxiety. He contends that his emotional disability was limited to this single episode for which he has since sought treatment, and that he is competent to continue in the practice of law.

From the foregoing, it appears that this proceeding presents us with two issues for resolution: (1) whether respondent Karst has in fact engaged in conduct in violation of DR 8-102(B) and 1-102; and (2) if so, what punishment is appropriate for such misconduct.

I.

DR 8-102(B) provides that an attorney shall not knowingly make false accusations against a judge or other adjudicatory officer.

In determining that respondent Karst was not in violation of DR 8-102(B), the Commissioner stated:

To violate this Rule, the lawyer must know that he is making false accusations. Based on the expert testimony of the clinical Psychologist and of the Psychiatrist, it is the conclusion of the Commissioner that Respondent believes the truth of the accusations he made against Judge Humphries, although he acknowledged that he had no factual basis for them. Therefore, it appears that he did not knowingly make false accusations against the Judge.

We disagree with the Commissioner's conclusion and find that the respondent Karst did in fact "knowingly make false accusations against a judge." In our opinion, DR 8-102(B) is violated when an attorney intentionally causes accusations to be published which he knows to be false, or which, with the exercise of ordinary care, he should know to be false.

The rationale for DR 8-102(B) appears in Ethical Consideration 8-6, the pertinent part of which provides:

Adjudicatory officials, not being wholly freed to defend themselves, are entitled to receive the support of the Bar against unjust criticism. While a lawyer as a citizen has a right to criticize such officials publicly, he should be certain of the merit of his complaint, use appropriate language, and avoid petty criticisms, for unrestrained and intemperate statements tend to lessen public confidence in our legal system. Criticisms motivated by reasons other than a desire to improve the legal system are not justified.

This provision clearly illustrates that it is not the genuineness of an attorney's belief in the truth of his allegations, but the reasonableness of that belief and the good faith of the attorney in asserting it that determines whether or not one has "knowingly" made false accusations against a judge within the meaning of DR 8-102(B). Consequently, where it is shown that an attorney knew, or in good faith should have known, of the falsity of his accusations, that attorney's unsubstantiated, subjective belief in the truth of those accusations, however genuine, will not excuse his violation of DR 8-102(B).

In the present case, there is no doubt that respondent Karst knew or should have known of the falsity of his allegations. As the Commissioner correctly noted, Karst intentionally caused accusations of serious misconduct on the part of Judge Humphries to be disseminated throughout the community of Alexandria. By respondent's own admissions, those accusations had no factual basis, but were the product of Karst's own highly emotional response to what he subjectively perceived to be a grave injustice committed against him.

At a formal investigatory hearing conducted by the Committee on Professional Responsibility on September 24, 1980, Karst testified as follows:

Q. Do you have any documentary evidence or concrete evidence other than belief or speculation that in fact this took place?

A. I know what my senses perceived, Mr. Deas--I know what my sense of sight and my sense of hearing perceived, and it's on these sensory perceptions that I make that allegation.

Q. But you have no documentation.

A. I have no--I have no--I can't say that they shook hands and he passed him a diamond or that I can't say that I know for a fact that Minos Simon is paying the drug bills of Judge Humphries wife ... (transcript of Investigatory hearing p. 125)

Again, at the Commissioner's hearing on October 21, 1981, Karst stated:

Q. Mr. Karst, I know that this question has been asked to you on depositions and asked you previously, sir, you do not have any factual basis upon which to state that Judge Humphries is guilty of blackmail, corruption, perjury and bribery.

A. Only by logical inference, sir.

Q. And logical inference in your own mind. Is that correct?

A. Very definitely. (Transcript of Commissioner's hearing. pages 62-63)

The above excerpts poignantly illustrate that respondent Karst engaged in exactly the type of spurious and unfounded criticism of the judiciary that DR 8-102(B) is designed to protect against. Although Karst argues that he genuinely believed in the truth of his accusations, his own admissions prove that that belief was not reasonable.

At the formal investigatory hearing and again at the Commissioner's hearing, Karst introduced psychological and psychiatric testimony in an attempt to excuse his actions on the grounds of an alleged mental disability. Both a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist testified that at the time of their examinations of Karst, the respondent appeared to be operating under an emotional state of diminished responsibility. However, it must be noted that the testimony of the psychologist and psychiatrist was predicated upon examinations...