Reutter, In re, C4-84-1032

• Decision Date: 30 August 1991
• Docket Number: No. C4-84-1032,C4-84-1032
• Parties: In re the Petition for Reinstatement of Robert D. REUTTER as an Attorney at Law of the State of Minnesota.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 343

474 N.W.2d 343

In re the Petition for Reinstatement of Robert D. REUTTER as an Attorney at Law of the State of Minnesota.

No. C4-84-1032.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Aug. 30, 1991.

Syllabus by the Court

In the absence of an independent investigation of allegations underlying a criminal conviction, reversal of the conviction supports reinstatement to practice, where the sole basis for disbarment was the conviction and where the attorney's current moral fitness to practice law is otherwise established. Disbarred attorney reinstated to the practice of law.

Theodore J. Collins, Collins, Buckley, Sauntry & Haugh, St. Paul, for petitioner.

William J. Wernz, Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Betty M. Shaw, Sr. Asst. Director, St. Paul, for respondent.

Heard, considered and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

On January 25, 1985, petitioner Robert D. Reutter was disbarred as a result of his convictions for aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In re Reutter, 361 N.W.2d 68 (Minn.1985). Following the reversal of those felony convictions, Reutter filed a petition seeking reinstatement to the practice of law in the State of Minnesota. A three-member panel of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board unanimously recommended reinstatement, and Reutter now asks that this court grant his reinstatement to the practice of law in Minnesota.

Admitted to the practice of law in South Dakota in 1965 and in Minnesota in 1966, Robert D. Reutter began his legal practice in Pipestone, Minnesota. In 1975, Reutter moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he continued practicing law until 1982, when Reutter apparently left the active practice of law and began pursuing various business endeavors.

Reutter's legal problems began on January 9, 1983, when David Trygstad, an attorney and acquaintance of Reutter's, was arrested after selling a quarter pound of cocaine to an undercover agent. As part of a negotiated plea agreement, Trygstad identified Reutter as the source of the cocaine, and Reutter was convicted of two felony counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and of one felony count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Those convictions were affirmed by the South Dakota Supreme Court on direct appeal and on habeas corpus petition. State v. Reutter, 374 N.W.2d 617, 622 (S.D.1985); Reutter v. Meierhenry, 405 N.W.2d 627, 631 (S.D.1987).

Following Reutter's convictions, this court ordered Reutter's disbarment based solely on the fact of his convictions. In re Reutter, 361 N.W.2d 68, 69 (Minn.1985). Although he was personally served with the petition seeking disbarment, Reutter neither responded nor appeared. Id. at 69. The allegations having been deemed admitted, this court required no independent inquiry or findings as to the truth of the allegations underlying the indictment and convictions. The South Dakota Supreme Court also ordered Reutter's disbarment, based upon determinations of the South Dakota State Bar Disciplinary Board that Reutter (1) had been convicted of serious crimes, within the meaning of the South Dakota attorney discipline rules, (2) had been involved in the distribution of cocaine with David Trygstad and others, and (3) had been seen using cocaine by other South Dakota attorneys. In re Discipline of Reutter, 379 N.W.2d 315, 315 (S.D.1985).

On November 2, 1989, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Reutter's criminal convictions, holding that the state's failure to disclose the fact of Trygstad's candidacy for sentence commutation deprived Reutter of a fair trial where there was a reasonable probability of a different outcome had that information been disclosed. Reutter v. Solem, 888 F.2d 578, 581-83 (8th Cir.1989) (citing Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1196, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) and United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667, 676, 105 S.Ct. 3375, 3380, 87 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985)). The state did not retry the case, and Reutter pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to time served.

In September of 1990, Reutter sought reinstatement to the practice of law in Minnesota. An investigation conducted by the Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility found no evidence precluding a recommendation for Reutter's reinstatement to the practice of law. At the hearing before a panel of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, Reutter admitted to having used cocaine on several occasions and acknowledged that being around controlled substances was "a grievous mistake." The panel recommended that Reutter be reinstated to the practice of law in Minnesota, subject to fulfilling the requirements of Rule 18(e), Rules of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, passing the full Minnesota bar examination, and obtaining his delinquent CLE credits.

When an attorney seeks reinstatement following disbarment, that attorney must establish that s/he has "undergone such a moral change as now to render him a fit person to enjoy the public confidence and trust once forfeited." In re Smith, 220 Minn. 197, 201, 19 N.W.2d 324, 326 (1945). Stronger proof of good moral character and trustworthiness should be required in the reinstatement case than in the original admission. In re Strand, 259 Minn. 379, 380, 107 N.W.2d 518, 519 (1961). While the attorney's moral change is the "decisive" factor in considering a petition for reinstatement, this court's inquiry includes an examination of other relevant factors, including (1) the attorney's consciousness of the wrongfulness of past misconduct, (2) the time lapse since misconduct and disbarment, (3) the seriousness of the original misconduct, and (4) the presence of physical or psychological illness or pressures that were susceptible to correction. In re Wegner, 417 N.W.2d 97, 98-99 (Minn.1987). Final responsibility for determining whether an attorney should be reinstated rests solely with this court. See In re Williams, 433 N.W.2d 104, 107 (Minn.1988) (granting reinstatement although panel recommended against reinstatement).

This court has not before considered how the reversal of an attorney's criminal conviction affects that attorney's petition for reinstatement. At first blush, it would appear that Reutter's reinstatement is assured because disbarment was based solely on convictions that have since been reversed. A reversal, it is said, nullifies the original conviction and wipes the slate clean. See Bullington v. Missouri, 451 U.S. 430, 442,...