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Thursday, January 08, 2009
Ind. Courts - More on "Madison Co. prosecutor denies alleged misconduct"
More today on yesterday's ILB entry on the complaint filed by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission against Madison County Prosecutor Thomas J. Broderick Jr. -- Shawn McGrath has this report in the Anderson Herald Bulletin. The story includes links to the Commision's complaint, Broderick's response, and the letter at issue. A few quotes from the story:
ANDERSON — Madison County Prosecutor Thomas J. Broderick Jr. claims in a response to a complaint filed by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission that he was not acting as his son’s attorney when he sent a letter to Florida prosecutors following the son’s arrest for battery. * * *The Disciplinary Commission alleges Broderick committed professional misconduct when he acted as Evan’s attorney and signed a deferral agreement with the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office in 2003 after Evan was arrested for allegedly driving drunk. The complaint claims Broderick engaged in wrongdoing by not disclosing Evan’s earlier arrest in Florida. Broderick was not then prosecutor of Madison County.
“A reasonable attorney would have known that there was a high degree of probability that Evan’s past arrest and resolution of his Florida case would be relevant to a prosecutor’s exercise of discretion to allow deferral or diversion of his case in Delaware County,” the complaint reads. “Under these circumstances, by knowingly signing the agreement as Evan’s attorney without reading it and without taking appropriate steps to verify that the document he was signing was truthful, (Broderick) acted with such willful blindness and recklessness as to constitute knowing conduct.”
Under the terms of the deferral agreement, Broderick stipulated that Evan had no prior arrests, which would have made him ineligible for the deferment, according to the complaint. The OWI charge against Evan was never filed after he successfully completed the terms of the agreement, according to the complaint. There are no allegations of wrongdoing against Evan, currently a deputy prosecutor in Madison Superior Court 5, from the Disciplinary Commission. * * *
In his response to the discipline complaint, Broderick “explicitly denies knowingly misrepresenting his son’s alleged criminal history to obtain the benefits of deferred prosecution (in Delaware County).”
Broderick goes on to state that, in both instances, he was acting as Evan’s father and not his attorney, and the rules of professional conduct didn’t apply. If the court determines that he was acting as Evan’s attorney, then he claims attorney-client privilege. He also claims the legal defense of mistake of fact, meaning it was an unintentional error.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 8, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts