STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. FAULK

STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. FAULK
2020 OK 76
Case Number: SCBD-6974
Decided: 09/28/2020
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

FOR PUBLICATION IN OBJ ONLY. NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION.

State of Oklahoma ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association, Complainant,
v.
Robert R. Faulk, Respondent.

ORDER OF IMMEDIATE INTERIM SUSPENSION

¶1 The Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA), in compliance with Rules 7.1 and 7.2 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP), has forwarded to this Court certified copies of the Information, Deferment, Judgment and Sentence, and Conditions of Probation in the matter of State of Oklahoma v. Robert R. Faulk, CF-2019-200, in Garfield County, Oklahoma. On September 4, 2020, Respondent entered a plea of Guilty to the fielony crime of Domestic Abuse -- Prior Pattern of Physical Abuse in violation of 21 O.S.2011, § 644.1, and a plea of Guilty to the misdemeanor crime of Domestic Abuse -- Assault and Battery in violation of 21 O.S.2011, § 644(C). The Court deferred judgment and sentence on the felony matter until September 3, 2022. The Center sentenced Faulk to a one-year suspended sentence on the misdemeanor conviction.

¶2 Rule 7.3 of the RGDP provides: "Upon receipt of the certified copies of Judgment and Sentence on a plea of guilty, order deferring judgment and sentence, indictment or information and the judgment and sentence, the Supreme Court shall by order immediately suspend the lawyer from the practice of law until further order of the Court." Having received certified copies of these papers and orders, this Court orders that Robert R. Faulk is immediately suspended from the practice of law. Robert R. Faulk is directed to show cause, if any, no later than October 5, 2020, why this order of interim suspension should be set aside. See RGDP Rule 7.3. The OBA has until October 19, 2020, to respond.

¶3 Rule 7.2 of the RGDP provides that a certified copy of a plea of guilty, an order deferring judgment and sentence, or information and judgment and sentence of conviction "shall constitute the charge and be conclusive evidence of the commission of the crime upon which the judgment and sentence is based and shall suffice as the basis for discipline in accordance with these rules." Pursuant to Rule 7.4 of the RGDP, Robert R. Faulk has until November 3, 2020, to show cause in writing why a final order of discipline should not be imposed, to request a hearing, or to file a brief and any evidence tending to mitigate the severity of discipline. The OBA has until November 18, 2020, to respond.

¶4 DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT in conference on September 28, 2020.

/S/CHIEF JUSTICE

ALL JUSTICES CONCUR