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Strasser v. Character and Fitness Committee of the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions4/21/2005
TO BE PUBLISHED
OPINION AND ORDER
This is an original action for review of a decision of the Character and Fitness Committee (Committee) of the Kentucky Board of Bar Examiners denying an application for admission to the practice of law in Kentucky. Ms. Strasser requests that she either be admitted to the practice of law in Kentucky or be granted a conditional admittance.
In February of 2001, Ms. Strasser filed her application to take the July Kentucky Bar Examination. On that application she disclosed a misdemeanor citation issued in 1997, but it was brought to the attention of the Committee that she had not disclosed that citation on her law school applications or on an application for an intern position. The Committee requested additional information on the citation, but Ms. Strasser did not provide all additional documentation requested by the Committee. The Committee therefore denied her permission to sit for the July bar exam. However, two weeks before the July bar exam, the Committee reconsidered its position and allowed Ms. Strasser to take the exam upon her written waiver providing that her scores would not be released until she successfully proved her character and fitness to practice law in Kentucky.
On December 6, 2001 and again on May 23, 2002, the Committee held formal hearings on Ms. Strasser's character and fitness to practice law in Kentucky. On July 30, 2002, Ms. Strasser's application for admission was denied for failure to prove the requisite character and fitness. An appeal was taken pursuant to SCR 2.060 to this Court on October 9, 2002. In March of 2002 in an unrelated matter, four-felony charges were filed against her former boyfriend, Mr. Kelly Ward, with Ms. Strasser as the complaining witness.
On March 20, 2002, this Court issued an Opinion and Order mandating that Ms. Strasser's application be deemed granted and her bar exam grade be unsealed. This Court determined that Ms. Strasser "has taken appropriate steps to deal with the residue of her early life... has demonstrated insight into the problems she faces and maturity in the manner in which she is dealing with them." The Committee filed a motion for reconsideration of our order, but released her bar exam results. The Court issued a subsequent order stating that Ms. Strasser must file a new application for admission by examination, pursuant to SCR 2.024. Unfortunately, she did not pass the July bar exam and the Committee withdrew the motion for reconsideration.
The Committee also discovered new information relating to Ms. Strasser's character and fitness to practice law stemming from instances of domestic violence with her former boyfriend, Mr. Kelly Ward. The new information was provided in a letter sent by Kelly Ward's Sister, Ms. Kim Tharp-Barrie. The information showed inconsistencies in the recounting of events to police and in a subsequent civil complaint against a homeowner's insurance company. The Committee hired an investigator to look into the validity of Ms.Tharp-Barrie's allegations. Ms.Tharp-Barrie also hired an investigator to assist the Committee.
On May 9, 2003, Ms. Strasser reapplied to take the July 2003 bar exam. The Committee allowed Ms. Strasser to the take the exam under the same written waiver. She only sat for the July 2003 multi-state portion of the exam since she had previously passed the written portion. In October 2003, per the Committee's request, Ms. Strasser participated in interviews with three psychologists and was given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test at Seven Counties in Louisville, Kentucky. The psychologist asked whether she had anger management issues or whether she had abused alc
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