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In re Discipline of Pendleton9/26/2000
Fifth District, St. George The Honorable Boyd Bunnell
Gary Pendleton appeals from the district court's judgment disbarring him for misconduct involving his possession, use, procurement, and distribution of methamphetamine. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
Pendleton was licensed to practice law in the state of Utah and was engaged full time in the practice of law in Washington County, Utah, when criminal charges were filed against him. On April 28, 1997, he was charged in Fifth District Court with criminal solicitation to deliver a controlled substance, distribution of a controlled substance (two counts), and possession or use of a controlled substance. In December 1997, a jury trial, presided over by District Judge David E. Roth, was held in the criminal court at which the State presented evidence of Pendleton's alleged involvement with methamphetamine, a controlled substance. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of possession or use of a controlled substance, a third degree felony in violation of Utah Code Ann. ยง 58-37-8(2)(a)(i), and on March 16, 1998, the criminal court entered its judgment of conviction of this offense. The criminal court sentenced Pendleton to a five-year prison term but stayed the sentence and placed Pendleton on thirty-six months' probation.
On July 2, 1997, after the criminal charges had been filed against Pendleton but before he was ultimately convicted, the Utah State Bar's Office of Professional Conduct (the "OPC") commenced a separate disciplinary proceeding against Pendleton by filing a petition for the interim suspension of Pendleton in the Fifth District Court. The OPC filed its petition pursuant to rule 18 of the Rules of Lawyer Discipline and Disability ("RLDD"), which permits the OPC to seek interim suspension of a lawyer who poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public, pending a final determination of whether permanent discipline is necessary. The OPC alleged in its petition that Pendleton (1) possessed and used methamphetamine, (2) solicited one of his clients, Donald Mills, to distribute methamphetamine to him, (3) purchased large amounts of methamphetamine from Mills, (4) requested methamphetamine from Mills's wife, Shannon Mills, in exchange for legal services, and (5) accepted methamphetamine in exchange for legal services provided to another client, Robert Hernandez. The OPC contended that in light of these acts, Pendleton's continued practice of law posed a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. The presiding judge of the Fifth District Court assigned Senior Judge Boyd Bunnell to preside over the OPC's disciplinary proceeding against Pendleton.
On January 10, 1998, a hearing was held before Judge Bunnell on the OPC's petition for interim suspension. In an order entered January 20, 1998, the disciplinary court granted the OPC's petition and ordered that Pendleton be suspended from the practice of law pending final disposition of the disciplinary proceeding against him. On February 19, 1998, Pendleton filed a notice of appeal of the interim suspension order.
On March 3, 1998, the OPC filed a formal complaint in the disciplinary court pursuant to rule 18 of the RLDD, which provides that once an interim suspension order is entered, the OPC is entitled to file a formal complaint seeking permanent discipline. In addition to listing the allegations set forth in the OPC's rule 18 petition for interim suspension, the formal complaint listed additional allegations of misconduct that had arisen since the petition was filed, including allegations that Pendleton (1) distributed methamphetamine to Marlene Meyers, a client, and smoked methamphetamine with her in h
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