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Kentucky Bar Association v. Dunn12/19/2002
TO BE PUBLISHED
OPINION AND ORDER
Respondent, Stephen Ray Dunn, of Providence, Kentucky, was admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky in October of 1979. In an Opinion and Order entered on March 19, 1998 (1998 Order), we suspended Respondent from the practice of law for six months, probated for two years. See Kentucky Bar Ass'n v. Dunn, Ky., 965 S.W.2d 158 (1998). The 1998 Order resulted from two separate incidents where Respondent was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcoholic beverages. Following the first incident, which occurred on June 13, 1996, Respondent pled guilty to four misdemeanor counts of wanton endangerment and one count of driving under the influence (DUI), first offense. During the second incident, which occurred on May 10, 1997, Respondent caused an accident that resulted in another motorist being seriously injured. Respondent was arrested and subsequently pled guilty to one count of DUI, second offense.
On September 30, 1998, following the 1998 Order, Respondent was indicted for first-degree assault by the Hopkins County Grand Jury. The assault charge arose from the injuries the other driver suffered from the 1997 accident caused by Respondent.
Before the Hopkins Circuit Court, on August 30, 1999, Respondent entered a plea of guilty to second-degree assault, a class C felony. As a result of his guilty plea, Respondent was automatically suspended from practicing law. SCR 3.166(1). In November of 1999, the circuit court sentenced Respondent to a term of seven years imprisonment. In February of 2000, Respondent was released after the court granted his motion for shock probation. Under the terms of that order, Respondent was placed on probation for five years, or until February of 2005.
Pursuant to the terms of the 1998 Order, Respondent applied for reinstatement to the practice of law. On May 3, 2001, a hearing was held before the Character and Fitness Committee (Committee) regarding Respondent's reinstatement application.
During the hearing, procedural questions arose regarding Respondent's felony guilty plea, and the Committee placed the reinstatement application in abeyance. On June 4, 2001, the Inquiry Commission, having been advised of the felony guilty plea, issued a complaint against Respondent. On November 20, 2001, the Inquiry Commission charged Respondent violated SCR 3.130-8.3(b) by committing a criminal act resulting in his conviction for second-degree assault. In his answer to the charge, Respondent argued that the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) was estopped from instituting further action against him because of the punishment rendered by this Court in the 1998 Order.
The matter then went before the Board of Governors (Board) of the KBA.
Following oral arguments, the Board considered the issue of whether Respondent was guilty of professional misconduct. A majority of the Board determined that Respondent was guilty and recommended that he be suspended from the practice of law until the probation for his felony conviction has been completed.
Respondent argues that the conduct, for which he currently faces disciplinary action, was already fully considered by this Court in 1998. Respondent also states that his intoxication, as well as the injury suffered by the other driver in the auto accident, was the basis for the second-degree assault charge. Respondent also notes that this was mentioned in the 1998 Order.
Respondent is correct in noting that the auto accident was mentioned in the 1998 Order. However, we could not have considered the assault charge in the 1998 Order because Respondent was indicted for that charge
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