A state commission studying how New York handles attorney disciplinary cases was in Buffalo gathering input on Tuesday afternoon.
The Commission on Statewide Attorney Discipline hosted the second of three public hearings scheduled statewide. Numerous speakers expressed their support for retaining current confidentiality rules. Among those favoring the current system is prominent local defense attorney Joel Daniels, who told the panel that in today's age of social media, a lawyer's reputation can be forever destroyed by disclosing an ethics charge publicly before the process is complete, even if that attorney is ultimately cleared of wrongdoing.
"Fairness requires that any disciplinary cases, charges, petitions or so forth remain confidential until there's been a final determination," Daniels said to WBFO. "And if there's been a sanction leveled against the lawyer, then it's public."
The speaker list was not limited to attorneys. Also testifying was Bill Bastuk, who several years ago was accused of raping a teenaged girl but was ultimately acquitted. Bastuk says the prosecuting attorney in his case wrongly withheld key evidence. During the year leading up to his trial and battling to have that evidence included, Batsuk says, he did some research and learned that it's less likely that prosecutors are brought up on disciplinary charges.
He told his story to the Commission hoping to change that.
"My hope is that they recognize when dealing with prosecutors, there is a need for an independent body known as a Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct, which would be modeled after the Commission for Judicial Conduct, which has been in place for 35 years," Bastuk said. "There's no reason why prosecutors shouldn't be treated any differently than judges."
The Commission is also taking comments in regards to whether the four districts in New York State show significant disparity in how they handle lawyer disciplinary cases. Their third and final public meeting is next week in Manhattan.
