AF Times: Senior Air Force JAG relieved of command; had been disbarred

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2406397.php

Practiced law in the Air Force for 23 years...without a license...

Senior Air Force JAG relieved of command; had been disbarred

By Holmes

Staff writer

One of the Air Force’s top lawyers was relieved of command Nov. 30 after it

was discovered he was disbarred in Texas and Louisiana more than 20 years ago

and does not hold a law license, Air Force officials acknowledged Wednesday in

response to Air Force Times questions.

Col. D. , commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency,

was disbarred in Texas in 1984 and Louisiana in 1985 but apparently never told

his commanders, as required by the Air Force Instruction regulating the status

of Air Force lawyers, or judge advocates.

“We are an integrity-based organization, and so we trust our people when they

assert that [they are qualified],” said Lt. Col. , a spokeswoman for

The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force. “Prior to this we did not have a

system that called for people to prove … their status, although we have that now

in place as of this moment.”

said is currently on leave and will be reassigned to “duties

that do not involve the practice of law” pending the outcome of an

investigation.

did not respond to a request for an interview.

“This is another in a series of very public black eyes for a group of people

who don’t seem to get the picture that there is problem with the process for

picking people for big jobs,” said J. “Lou” Michels Jr., a former JAG

lieutenant colonel and former instructor at the JAG School who now is in private

practice.

“The Air Force JAG did not need another high-profile misconduct case by its

senior leadership.”

In January 2005, the Air Force's top military attorney, then-Maj. Gen.

J. Fiscus, was demoted two grades and ordered to retire as a colonel after

receiving nonjudicial punishment for charges of conduct unbecoming an officer,

engaging in unprofessional relationships, fraternization and obstruction of

justice for deleting incriminating e-mail files from his Defense Department

computer system.

Then in June 2005, Brig. Gen. S. Hassan was removed from his position

as director of the Air Force Senior Leadership Management office in Washington

amid allegations he had inappropriate relationships with female subordinates.

As commander of the Legal Operations Agency, oversaw an agency

responsible for the administration of the Air Force’s civil litigation program

and criminal justice process.

, who joined the Air Force in November 1983, previously served as

general counsel to the White House Military Office from December 2001 to January

2003 and from August 2003 to January 2005, and as commandant of the Air Force

Judge Advocate General School from January to June 2005.

As a staff judge advocate earlier in his career, advised commanders on

whether Air Force members should be charged with crimes and what their

punishment should be once they were convicted. Several lawyers in the Air Force

community have questioned whether there will now be a rash of appeals stemming

from cases in which was involved.

But Air Force officials said there is legal precedent upholding convictions of

defendants represented by unlicensed attorneys, and that attorneys don’t have to

be licensed by a state bar for a military verdict to be valid. They

acknowledged, however, that if defense attorneys make that challenge, it will be

up to a judge to determine how to dispose of such cases, based on the individual

facts of each case.

The disbarments came to light and an investigation was launched on Nov. 29,

said. was relieved of command the next day.

, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, first ran into

trouble in 1981, when he failed to file an appeal on time for a client convicted

of burglary, according to court documents.

In August 1982, Texas sued , accusing him of professional misconduct. A

year later, as a result of that suit, Texas suspended ’s law license for

seven years. But in a January 1983 application to be admitted to the Louisiana

bar, he stated under oath that he had never been sued nor been the subject of a

disciplinary action.

Both Texas and Louisiana permanently disbarred for lying on his

Louisiana bar application; Texas did so in May 1984 and Louisiana in September

1985.

joined the Air Force after being suspended by Texas but before being

disbarred by either state.

Related to ’s dismissal, Maj. Gen. Jack Rives, The Judge Advocate

General of the Air Force, sent a memo Tuesday instructing all Air Force lawyers

to certify by Dec. 31 that they are members in good standing of a state or

federal bar association.

“All lawyers are now required to show their supervising attorney visual proof

they are member of a bar in good standing,” said.

Air Force Times staff writer Rod Hafemeister and Gannett News Service staff

writer Gaudiano contributed to this report.

Randi J. Airola, © 517-819-5926

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