Attorney in Texas practicing law from state psychiatric hospital

[DocZaius]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crim ... pit/nTLPZ/

ByEric DexheimerAmerican-Statesman Staff
Three weeks ago, Randy Gourley’s attorney filed a lengthy legal document at the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals arguing that the criminal case against her client should be dismissed. Gourley stands charged with misdemeanor theft for attempting to sell a small amount of prescription animal medication on Craigslist, she said.

“Gourley should be immediately set at liberty with the recall of the arrest warrant and dismissal of these groundless charges,” wrote Carolyn Barnes, Texas State Bar license No. 01761550.

A close reading of the Nov. 15 filing shows an unusual return address for Barnes: Unit 3B of the Kerrville State Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric facility.

Barnes, who has been licensed to practice law in Texas since 1984, has been a forced patient of the state psychiatric system since mid-2011, when she was found mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She is accused of firing a handgun at a census worker outside her rural Leander home; she contends the incident never occurred.

Despite her hospital commitment, Barnes’ license to practice law remains in good standing. On Wednesday, the appeals court diverted her filing back to a Williamson County court-at-law.

“We question whether Barnes, having been found incompetent to stand trial in her own matter, may represent Gourley in this separate matter,” the justices wrote.

Barnes’ status as a practicing lawyer raises real and complicated legal questions. It also illuminates an uncommon and secretive procedure through which attorneys can lose their licenses because of a disability — “any physical, mental or emotional condition” that prevents them from practicing law, according to state disciplinary rules.

From Barnes’ perspective, the fact that she has been permitted to continue practicing law is clear evidence she should be released from her forced confinement in the state hospital and be allowed to proceed to her own trial. Her logic: If she is legally able to represent Gourley, as she has been doing, then she is more than capable of understanding the charges against her and participating in her own defense – the legal standard used to determine if a defendant is mentally competent to stand trial.

In short, Barnes said, “If I’m fully licensed to represent clients in the state of Texas, then I’m fully competent to stand trial.”

The Williamson County District Attorney’s office takes the opposite view – that if Barnes has been found incompetent to stand trial, then she has no business representing legal clients. It has pushed the State Bar of Texas, which regulates the profession, to suspend her license.

But Barnes said the only time the organization restricted her ability to practice was for a short period in mid-2011. At the time, she had been locked up, first in the county jail following her May 2010 arrest; and later in the state’s maximum security psychiatric facility, Vernon State Hospital.

As a prisoner/patient , she was permitted only limited contact with the outside world and fell behind on her state-required continuing legal education requirements. The state bar association suspended her license for the administrative lapses.

After being transferred to Kerrville, which has fewer restrictions on residents, Barnes quickly completed the coursework over the Internet, and her license was reinstated. She also resumed representing Gourley, whose case she’d begun working on prior to her arrest and confinement. (He could not be reached for comment.) At Kerrville she has access to a cellphone, the Internet, a fax machine and the U.S. Postal Service.

The instances in which regulators prohibit an attorney from practicing because of a disability are rare. State bar records show such cases arise only about once a year, though it’s not publicly revealed if a case involves a mental or physical ailment.

After receiving a complaint, which is kept confidential, the bar association refers the case to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, a group of 12 attorneys appointed by the Texas Supreme Court. The board kicks the case to an ad hoc District Disability Committee made up of a lawyer, a doctor and a public member.

The burden of proof is on the bar association’s lawyer to prove attorneys are disabled. There are no specific standards defining disability; Kim Bueno, a spokeswoman for the bar association’s Chief Disciplinary Counsel, said medical records and physician testimony could be used to make a case.
If the committee concludes an attorney is incapable of practicing law because of the disability, it sends the case back to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, which indefinitely suspends the lawyer’s license. Attorneys who hope to resume practice must convince the board they are better.

Bueno said strict confidentiality rules prevented her from commenting on Barnes, other than to say that she had no public disciplinary history. But, she added, the organization has been aware of Barnes’ case: “This is nothing that is unknown to us.”
That grates Williamson County’s out-going DA, John Bradley:“If the law allows a mentally incompetent lawyer to represent a citizen, then the law needs to be changed, because that is ridiculous.”

[TheTodd]

wait for it.....

If the law allows a mentally incompetent lawyer to represent a citizen, then the law needs to be changed, because that is ridiculous.

Wouldn't that put all lawyers out of a job? Thank you, I'll show my self out!

[DocZaius]

How do they tell the difference?

[DocZaius]

Interestingly, the USDOJ will give her preferential hiring treatment:

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/joseph-kle ... abilities/

It’s official. The Obama administration is intent on dumbing down the Justice Department. Literally.

P.J. Media uncovered efforts by Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department to actively recruit and give preferential treatment to the hiring of attorneys and staff who have certain so-called “targeted disabilities.” Included are attorneys and staff with “psychiatric disabilities,” “severe intellectual disabilities,” and other current severe “intellectual or mental conditions.”


This policy stems from an executive order signed by President Obama in July 2010 requiring that federal agencies develop plans for promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities including “performance targets and numerical goals for employment of individuals with disabilities and sub-goals for employment of individuals with targeted disabilities.”