Reinstatement of Janet Bickel Hutson to Membership in the Okla. Bar Ass'n v. Okla. Bar Ass'n

• Decision Date: 30 April 2019
• Docket Number: Case Number: SCBD-6672
• Citation: 2019 OK 32
• Parties: In The Matter of the Reinstatement of Janet Bickel Hutson to Membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association, and to the Roll of Attorneys JANET BICKEL HUTSON, Petitioner, v. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION, Respondent.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

2019 OK 32

In The Matter of the Reinstatement of Janet Bickel Hutson to

Membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association, and to the Roll of AttorneysJANET BICKEL HUTSON, Petitioner, v. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION, Respondent.

Case Number: SCBD-6672

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

Decided: April 30, 2019

NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL.

BAR REINSTATEMENT PROCEEDING

¶0 The petitioner, Janet Bickel Hutson, pled guilty to criminal charges of offering false evidence, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and perjury. She received a deferred sentence of five (5) years. Hutson resigned from the Oklahoma Bar Association pending disciplinary proceedings on July 3, 2007, following an interim suspension. The Court struck her name from the roll of Oklahoma attorneys on September 24, 2007. Hutson petitioned for reinstatement on July 25, 2018. After a reinstatement hearing, the Professional Responsibility Tribunal determined that Hutson had not established by clear and convincing evidence that she had met all of the requirements for reinstatement. Upon de novo review, we hold that the attorney may not be reinstated at this time. However, if she succeeds in following our proposed recommendations, she should re-apply in six months. The attorney is hereby denied reinstatement and is ordered to pay the remaining costs of $1,999.50.

REINSTATEMENT DENIED;

COSTS IMPOSED.

Sheila J. Naifeh, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Petitioner.

Tracy Pierce Nester, Assistant General Counsel, Oklahoma Bar Association, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Respondent.

KAUGER, J.

¶1 After the petitioner, Janet Bickel Hutson, (petitioner/Hutson) pled guilty to criminal charges of offering false evidence, possession of a controlled dangerous substance and perjury, the Court struck her name from the roll of attorneys on September 25, 2007. On July 25, 2018, Hutson petitioned for reinstatement. Upon a de novo review,¹ we hold that the petitioner did not meet the burden of proof necessary for reinstatement. Nevertheless, we propose recommendations to pursue her commitment to recovery of substance abuse and financial issues and suggest that she re-apply after at least six months of following the recommendations. She is also ordered to pay remaining costs of $1999.50.²

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶2 Hutson, a former police officer, became a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association on September 25, 1991, after graduating from law school. Her post-law school graduation work consisted primarily as an attorney in the District Attorney's office covering various counties including Muskogee, Cherokee, Wagoner, Adair, and Sequoyah. She also worked in private practice, and was appointed as a special prosecutor by the Oklahoma Attorney General in 1995 to prosecute the notorious Baby Luke case in Pittsburg County.

¶3 According to the petitioner, she suffered from anorexia off and on her entire adult life. In the early 2000's, her life began to tailspin and she started abusing cocaine. She attributed her tailspin to her traumatic childhood due to her father's alcoholism and criminal behavior, her deteriorating marriage, depression, anxiety, anorexia, her youngest son joining the military and being deployed to Iraq, and her youngest granddaughter being born with spina bifida. In 2003, she sought treatment in Arizona for anorexia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression, and in 2005, she took an overdose of Xanax.

¶4 The incident giving rise to her suspension occurred on February 22, 2005, when she attended a drug bust at a search scene. While at the scene, she placed a bag of methamphetamine in her purse. After the drug scene, investigators reported that drugs were missing from the crime scene, Hutson admitted that she discovered the missing drugs in her purse. She insisted that they stuck to the rubber gloves that she was wearing when she took them off and put them in her purse. She adhered to this story, testifying before the Multicounty Grand Jury on September 22, 2005.

¶5 As the investigation continued, it became apparent that the petitioner took the drugs from the scene, and altered the contents of the bag.³ Consequently, she faced a perjury charge in Oklahoma County, and charges of offering false evidence and possession of controlled dangerous substance in Wagoner County, Oklahoma.⁴ On September 8, 2006, she pled guilty to the charges, received a five (5) year deferred sentence, and paid $3500.00 in each county for a total of $7000.00 in fines and court costs.

¶6 Thereafter, the Bar Association initiated a grievance against the petitioner resulting from her guilty pleas. On March 26, 2007,⁵ the Court issued an order of interim suspension, effective immediately pursuant to Rule 7.3 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings.⁶ While disciplinary proceedings were pending, the petitioner submitted a resignation on July 3, 2007, waiving any right to explain her conduct or submit mitigating evidence. She also agreed to make no application for reinstatement prior to the expiration of five years. The Court issued an order approving her resignation on September 25, 2007.

¶7 On September 14, 2011, the petitioner's criminal records were ordered expunged in both Wagoner and Oklahoma Counties. Since her resignation, Hutson has had several jobs, primarily in law offices, as a paralegal/legal assistant or an office manager. She denies having practiced law, giving legal advice, or having any clients since her resignation. She offers affidavits from several court clerks who affirm that they have not received any evidence that Hutson has practiced law since March of 2007.

¶8 In 2016, Hutson filed a Petition for Reinstatement, but voluntarily withdrew it after she became overwhelmed with the process, realized she was not ready for reinstatement, and decided that she needed independent attorney representation which she could not afford. She submitted another Petition for Reinstatement on July 25, 2018. The Professional Responsibility Tribunal (PRT) held a reinstatement hearing on October 17th and 18th, 2018.

¶9 At the hearing, ten people testified, with sixty exhibits admitted. The first to testify (via telephone) was Penny Ross Miller, a licensed professional counselor. The counselor also provided a letter dated October 5, 2018, which verified that the petitioner began weekly therapy sessions on September 21, 2018. The letter noted that Hutson had attended three counseling sessions, and had agreed to maintain weekly sessions for the foreseeable future. The counselor's testimony expanded on the letter and identified an additional counseling session that Hutson had attended.

¶10 Another client of the counselor had recommended that Hutson seek counseling and attend AA meetings. Hutson maintains that she has remained free of illegal substances for 13 years and had recently completely abstained from alcohol. The recent counseling appears to be the only counseling the petitioner has had since her resignation in 2007. The counselor encouraged AA attendance if any type of narcotic abuse was an issue.

¶11 Next, District Judge Jeffrey Payton, attorney Brett Smith, and attorney Amy McFarland testified in support of her reinstatement regarding the many years they have known petitioner. They believe in the petitioner's moral character, legal skills and knowledge of the law, and they all supported reinstatement. Smith also sponsored the Muskogee County Bar Association's unanimous resolution of support for Hutson's reinstatement. Hutson's current employer, attorney William Connor II, also praised her current moral character and described her current work product as spectacular. Additionally, the petitioner offered seven letters from other judges and lawyers who supported her reinstatement.

¶12 Emett Hutson, the petitioner's husband, testified that he had never witnessed her using illegal drugs or abusing alcohol and that she had stopped drinking completely after agreeing to participate in Lawyers Helping Lawyers. The petitioner's son, Master Sergeant Christopher Bickel, also supported his mother, noting that she was remorseful, accepting of responsibility, and that she had high moral character. He described her as having a much better work-life balance than she did at the time she lost her license.

¶13 Clint Johnson, who served as a supervising agent District 27 Drug Task Force at the time of the incident giving rise to Hutson's resignation, gave additional details about the drug raid. He testified that the bag of methamphetamine that Hutson returned was not of the same type/quality that she took from the crime scene. He also testified that Hutson told him he should tell anyone that asked that she did not intentionally take the drugs. Ultimately, all of the drug charges against the individuals who were arrested in the raid were dropped due to the tainted evidence.

¶14 The Bar's investigator, Jamie Lane, testified regarding his investigation of the petitioner. He identified some omissions in her first petition for reinstatement such as an arrest in Arkansas in 2011 for public intoxication as well as two civil actions which had been filed against Hutson. He indicated that the two civil actions were also not disclosed in the second petition for reinstatement and that information regarding Hutson's student loan debt had not been updated since 2015. He confirmed that the petitioner had no outstanding and unpaid monetary obligations to the Bar.

¶15 Finally, the petitioner testified, recounting her employment history, education, and the events which led to her criminal prosecution. She testified that she submitted to hair follicle tests in 2005, 2007, 2009, and on September 26, 2018, at the request of the Bar, and all of those tests were negative for drugs. At the Bar's suggestion she reached out to Lawyers Helping Lawyers, and attends therapy. She has attended 17 sessions of AA, contacts her Lawyers Helping Lawyers...