Dennis Hawver
Based on a 2005 trial, where acting as defense attorney he told jurors to both convict and execute his client, the Kansas Supreme Court has disbarred Dennis Hawver. Hawver is known for showing up at events dressed as Thomas Jefferson, which he also did for his disciplinary hearing.
Hawver was the 2012 Libertarian candidate for US House, KS-2, where he won 4.3% of the vote, and has also previously run as as a Libertarian for attorney general and as a Republican for governor.
Article at kansas.com:
http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article3933257.html
+1
Arguing for executing his client was not the only “slip-up” this fellow has committed:
http://www.loweringthebar.net/2014/09/i-am-incompetent-lawyer-argues-unnecessarily.html
He made that particular mistake, it seems, because he wasn’t aware that the sentencing phase existed, leading him to declare “whoever killed those people should get the death penalty” after his client was found guilty.
He also put a past conviction into evidence, despite the prosecution saying it was inadmissible, and failed to present a perfectly good alibi.
He also argued that he was incompetent – but presented a poor argument for it, since his argument was that any attorney who thinks his client is not guilty but loses the case is incompetent, which is clearly not true.
Good article, Andy!
LOL, Mark!
Disbarring someone certainly seems extreme, but recommending his own client be executed most certainly seems inappropriate. As much as I love Libertarians, we do have some odd ducks among us, for sure.
In some states, rather than disbarring incompetent lawyers, they make them Judges.
Welcome to the team, Andy.