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State Bar reprimands assistant prosecutor

A committee says the lawyer acted unprofessionally but doesn't discipline him.

By SHAWNTAYE HOPKINS
Published August 11, 2005

INVERNESS - A Florida Bar grievance committee has taken a local prosecutor to task for calling a defense attorney a "lying bastard" in court, records show.

The committee stopped short of starting disciplinary procedures against Assistant State Attorney Jeffery Smith.

Still, "while the committee believes a genuine misunderstanding arose, the committee found your (Smith's) comments to be extremely unprofessional and bordered on being unethical," wrote Thomas Warren Hastings, the grievance committee's acting chairman, in a letter to Smith.

Name-calling is never appropriate in the courtroom, the committee said. In the letter, dated Aug. 3, the committee also suggested that Smith adjust his courtroom behavior to comply with the legal profession's standards.

With that, the grievance committee dismissed a complaint that Inverness attorney Michael Manning filed against Smith in December. Some additions were made to the complaint in March. It also took no action in a complaint that Smith filed against Manning.

Manning complained that Smith called him a "lying bastard" while he was defending a juvenile charged with armed burglary and theft. Smith made the comment during a private conversation with Manning in the courtroom. Manning approached Smith, who was seated in the jury box taking notes about a different case.

Manning also says that as his client's parents were addressing the court on a separate occasion last year, Smith "leaned back in his chair, leaned back his head, and yelled "liars, liars."'

And Smith allegedly told the defendant to plea or "I'll bury your a--," the complaint reads.

By October, Manning said he witnessed Smith act or speak inappropriately in court during numerous hearings in juvenile court.

Manning said Wednesday that Smith's behavior has become a trend. But the case of Matthew Pavlisin, now 18, prompted him to contact the Bar.

Manning attempted to have Smith removed from the case, saying he was prejudiced against the defendant. That motion was denied.

In his complaint, Manning also said Smith has been known to unplug courtroom microphones, and it has been suggested by some that this is to obscure, frustrate or prevent accurate recording of statements for transcripts.

"My concern in this case is what the prosecutor did to this child," Manning said. He said Pavlisin, who has mental disabilities, would have trouble identifying his legal options if he were threatened.

In his complaint, Manning says Smith apologized for his remarks. Smith later sent a response to the Bar explaining his side of the story.

Smith declined to comment on the case Wednesday because, he said, he'd last heard from the Bar that the information was privileged.

In his written response to Manning's complaint, filed in January, Smith wrote that he did not deny calling him a "lying bastard."

But, Smith wrote, his words were meant only for Manning. And although comments were made in a courtroom, they were not made in open court. He said he asked Manning to step away from him, but the defense attorney wouldn't do so.

Smith argued that he never said his comments were inappropriate. But Manning accepted his handshake when it was offered.

"Was I mad, yes. Do I regret saying what I said, yes, particularly in light of all this," Smith wrote to the Bar. "I further regret that the Bar may now have to look into Mr. Manning's possible ethical violation," Smith wrote.

In April, Smith filed a complaint with the Bar against Manning, saying Manning intentionally misrepresented facts to the Bar. But the grievance committee found there was insufficient evidence to support such a finding.

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 00:42:17]