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Aspiring lawyer with multiple felony sex offenses can reapply for the bar exam
ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: June 21, 2016
The Ohio Supreme Court recently affirmed the denial of a candidate’s application for admission to the practice of law in the state, but reversed a recommendation for a lifetime ban.
Applicant John David Tynes appealed a decision from the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness that rendered him permanently unfit for admission to the bar based on multiple felony sex offenses.
“Tynes objects to the board’s recommendation that his application be disapproved and that he be forever barred from reapplying for admission to the bar, arguing that the board focused too heavily on his past felony convictions and the effect that his admission would have on the public’s perception of the legal profession,” the high court’s per curiam opinion states.
Tynes argued that he presented clear and convincing evidence of rehabilitation and the Supreme Court agreed.
According to case summary, in 1998, at the age of 50, Tynes was serving in the military when he began to frequent sexually oriented chat rooms on the internet.
On three separate occasions, Tynes sought to arrange in-person meetings with minor females that he had befriended online.
Although he was never successful, Tynes was arrested by FBI agents in Chicago when he arrived for what he believed would be a meeting with an underage girl.
Tynes was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer, four counts of attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sex, two counts of traveling interstate with the intent to have sex with a minor, one count of knowingly possessing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.
He eventually served 19 months of confinement in the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks.
“Tynes described these events as the most devastating thing that had ever happened to him,” the court opinion states.
More than 10 years after he committed his offenses, Tynes was accepted into the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law.
In 2013, the Cincinnati Bar Association admissions committee referred Tynes to the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program for a psychological evaluation based on concerns that he had not received any counseling or therapy following his release from confinement.
A forensic psychologist eventually found that Tynes did not suffer from any mental health issues that would prevent him from responsibly practicing law.
Tynes entered into a five-year OLAP mental health recovery contract in 2013 and commenced regular psychotherapy sessions.
His therapist testified that Tynes could effectively function as an attorney and that he was at low risk for recidivism.
Still, the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness found that Tynes’ felony record “established a disregard for the law and a complete disregard for the health, safety and welfare of the vulnerable girls from whom he solicited sexual favors.”
The board recommended that Tynes’ application to practice law be denied and that he not be allowed to reapply.
Upon review, the state Supreme Court acknowledged Tynes’ status as “a productive and law abiding citizen since his release from confinement” and it commended his desire to help others navigate the criminal justice system.
“Nonetheless, we have significant concerns regarding his honesty and integrity during the admissions process given his efforts to minimize his own culpability for his criminal conduct,” the high court wrote. “Our concerns, however, are not so grave as to warrant a permanent bar to a future application.”
Making note of several other former sex offenders who were permitted to apply to the practice of law in the state, the high court held that an indefinite suspension of an attorney who has committed sex crimes protects the public, deters other lawyers from wrongdoing and preserves the public’s trust in the profession while leaving “open the possibility that the errant attorney may one day be rehabilitated, redeemed and able to resume the competent, ethical and professional practice of law.”
“Based on the evidence of Tynes’ good conduct since his release from military confinement in May of 2001, his ongoing mental health treatment and his continuing participation in OLAP, we believe that he may soon be able to carry his burden of proving that he possesses the requisite character, fitness and moral qualifications to practice law in Ohio,” the Supreme Court wrote.
The high court ruled that Tynes will be permitted to reapply for the July 2018 Ohio bar exam.
Justice Terrence O’Donnell was the sole dissenting judge with no separate opinion.
The case is cited In re Applications of Tynes, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-3307.
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