Court upholds disbarment of county public defender

Guillermo Romero's last move is to ask state Supreme Court to reconsider decision

The Washington State Supreme Court has upheld the recommendation of the State Bar Association to disbar former Grant County public defender Guillermo Romero.

In a 9-0 decision, state Supreme Court Justice Tom Chambers wrote that the "depth and breadth of his misconduct and the cumulative weight of numerous aggravating factors" led the court to uphold the recommendation of both the bar's disciplinary board and a hearing officer to take away Romero's license to practice law.

Romero, who retained a law practice in Ephrata, had requested the court to reduce his punishment to a two-year suspension, arguing that the misuse of client funds should not warrant disbarment on its own, according to

Chambers' opinion.

The court agreed with Romero but ruled in favor of disbarment because of the volume of mitigating factors involved in his case.

Romero's misconduct, according to Chambers, spanned six years and involved seven different clients. In four of those cases, Romero was found to have illegally received payment from clients who qualified for indigent defense paid for by the state.

The most serious charge stemmed from Romero's representation of client Albert Swartz in a criminal matter. Swartz gave Romero two checks totaling $2,226 to cover fees and court costs.

Romero cashed both checks the next day but did not pay Swartz' court costs and crime victim compensation assessment for three months, according Chambers.

Swartz received notice from Grant County collections clerk Stephanie Canterbury that payment had not been received, and he presented a carbon copy of the checks he made out Romero. Canterbury then contacted Romero at least 10 times with a request for payment.

According to Chambers, he replied with false and misleading statements regarding the funds but never denied having the money.

For this case, the court upheld the state bar's disciplinary board recommendation of disbarment.

In three other cases, the Supreme Court ruled Romero failed to file motions on behalf of his client which resulted in penalties being levied against the clients.

In addition to Romero's representation of clients, the Supreme Court ruled Romero was late in filing his income tax returns from the years 1997 through 2000, which violates state bar conduct rules.

Three days before Romero's deposition in August 2001, he filed tax returns for those years. According to Chambers, Romero failed to keep adequate business records during those years, which forced him to estimate his annual income.

Finally, Romero and the bar stipulated to the facts that Romero failed to respond in a timely manner to the seven different grievances.

Romero was out of his office Monday afternoon. He could not be reached immediately for comment Tuesday morning.

Romero's troubles began in 2001 when complaints were filed against him for soliciting money from clients who qualified for indigent defense. A hearings officer then recommended Romero's disbarment, and the bar's

disciplinary upheld the officer's ruling.

Romero's disbarment could mean his losing his job as the victim witness coordinator in Grant County Prosecutor John Knodell's office.

Knodell said he received a letter from the state bar stating its opinion that Romero could not work in a law office in any capacity after being disbarred.

"If he has to go, it would be a shame, because he's done a great job for us," Knodell said.

Knodell said he hired Romero last year as victim witness coordinator, who acts as a liaison between the prosecutor's office and crime victim's families, knowing full well of the potential removal of his license by

the bar.

"I have a lot of confidence in him as a person," Knodell said. "He's a very fundamentally decent and honest person."

Knodell said Romero was planning to ask the court the reconsider its decision but added that action rarely results in the Supreme Court changing its opinion.

Romero is the second former public defender from Grant County whose disbarment the Supreme Court has upheld this year. Moses Lake attorney Tom Earl, who held the county's public-defender contract since 1987, lost

his law license in May after the court denied his appeal of the disbarment.

Romero was one of the attorneys who subcontracted public-defense cases from Earl, who the bar said accepted too many cases and also asked for payment from clients who qualified for free public defense.

Since Earl's disbarment, Grant County commissioners have scrambled to sign contracts with seven local attorneys to provide indigent public defense.