The Nevada Supreme Court imposed a 35-day suspension rather than the proposed reprimand for an attorney's communication with a witness
This disciplinary proceeding grows out of a letter and followup email that Callister sent D.E., who witnessed a will Callister's client disputed. In them, Callister offers D.E. $7,000 "[i]n exchange for your honest testimony. . . that you never witnessed the Decedent signing a will." The letter runs several pages and threatens D.E. with personal liability and "the legal implications of perjury" if D.E. does not disavow the will. Callister sent the same letter, but not the follow-up email, to another third party who also had witnessed the will.
It is unethical for a lawyer to offer money to a fact witness contingent on the content of the witness's testimony.
The court
The record does not support that Callister's conduct was merely negligent. His communications with D.E. were deliberate, not a casual comment in a courthouse elevator that an unnoticed witness accidentally overheard. The undisputed evidence shows that: (1) Callister wrote and sent a letter to a third-party fact witness, offering $7,000 if the witness would testify that the will he had witnessed was a fake; (2) he threatened the witness with civil litigation and criminal exposure if he did not testify as Callister wanted; and (3) a month later, Callister resent the letter as a .pdf to an email address and reiterated his cash offer, at the witness's request. From the letter and email it appears that Callister intended to do exactly what he did. If Callister was negligent, it was in not recognizing that his conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct until after the fact. But ignorance or mistake of law does not transform an intentional act—improperly influencing, or attempting to influence, fact witness testimony—into negligence.
Callister defended his conduct before the Disciplinary Board on the bases the will was forged, he needed D.E. to disavow the will to prove his case, and the testimony he solicited was truthful. But "lawyers cannot condition fact witnesses' compensation on the content, substance, or perceived usefulness of their testimony." Douglas R. Richmond, Compensating Fact Witnesses: The Price Is Sometimes Right, 42 Hofstra L. Rev. 905, 911 (2014)...
When apprised of Canister's dealings with D.E., the judge presiding over the will contest excluded D.E.'s testimony, disqualified Callister, and reported the matter to the State Bar. This cost Callister's client his lawyer of choice and protracted the proceeding, adding legal complications and needless expense. It also imposed systemic costs, fostering public cynicism of a system where fact witness testimony appears to be bought and sold. To his credit, Callister revoked the offer to D.E. after talking to his partner about the ethical problems it posed, before any money changed hands. This prevented further harm but did not reverse the prejudice his misconduct caused.
The appropriate sanction depends on the seriousness of the offense and case-specific aggravating and mitigating factors. Despite the seriousness of the offense, considerable mitigation exists: Callister has no prior disciplinary offenses, eventually revoked his improper communications, and enjoys an otherwise good reputation. Nonetheless, the seriousness of the offense, the prejudice it caused, and the fact it was deliberate make public reprimand insufficient.
The case is In re Jonathan Callister. (Mike Frisch)
Delaware police say woman who feared deportation drowned 2 boys Crime News Today
Delaware police say woman who feared deportation drowned 2 boys Crime News Today
Delaware police say woman who feared deportation drowned 2 boys Crime News Today
WILMINGTON, D.E. — (KRON) — A woman drowned her infant son and his 5-year-old half brother in a bathtub hours after she called police and told them she was worried about being deported, a Delaware police chief said Tuesday.
Kula Pelima, a native of Liberia who has lived in the U.S. for two decades, called 911 about…
Things 911 writers took straight (nothing is straight about this) out of fanfics. Season 5 Edition.
5x06.
Seriously, can I just link the whole episode and be like this is a fanfic?
▪️Buck and Eddie being paired up with different people yet end up working together.
▫️Buck and Eddie getting taken hostage together. All hostage scenes are pure fanfic.
▪️Buck and Eddie planning to take prisoners out. Also leaning into each other’s spaces.
▫️I know it was an editing mistake but Buckley on Eddie’s back. We all read these ones, didn’t we?
▪️Buck switching into worried and mad parent mode once Christopher is mentioned.
▫️Eddie getting tense and angry after prisoners threaten to hurt Chris.
▪️Eddie being calm and collected while Buck can’t keep his cool and jumping into danger.
▫️One of the prisoners threatening Chris and Eddie to get Buck to do what he’s being told.
▪️Silent conversation between Buck and Eddie before Buck leaves the ambulance.
▫️Daddy Eddie. Sorry! No, but seriously, him handling the hostage situation and this Buck. Chills.
▪️Buck completely losing his mind over worrying about Eddie and running to him once he heard the shot getting fired.
▫️The difference in Eddie’s voice when he’s talking to Buck and shouting at SWAT team to get away from him. The trust, because he knows Buck will do the way he was asked to.