This story, via the  New York Lawyer and the Monterey County Herald, is the sort that makes my blood boil.  On the blawgs, we talk about the efforts of criminal defense lawyers in the face of adversity, as if we were all fighting for truth and justice for our clients.  Then comes a story about the other side of the criminal defense bar, the ones who grab the cash and leave the defendant to dangle in the wind.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.—The State Bar has charged a San Bernardino County criminal defense lawyer with taking thousands of dollars from clients, then abandoning them. William Gebbie surrendered his law license after filing of the 28-count complaint, which accused him of allowing a client to sit in jail for months even though he had evidence to clear the man.

The Rancho Cucamonga-based attorney, who practiced for 38 years in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, declined comment on Tuesday.

The State Bar says Gebbie improperly withdrew from cases, failed to return unearned fees and collected “unconscionable” fees, among other things.

The most serious accusation involved Gebbie’s handling of a case against Donald Stephens, whose wife paid the lawyer a $10,000 advance to handle a felony sex case. Stephens sat in jail even though Gebbie had evidence clearing him.

I’m sure some truly imaginative person out there can come up with a handful of excuses to explain away this conduct.  It doesn’t matter.  If he couldn’t perform, then it was his obligation to hand off the case, and the money, to someone who could. 

I’m going to jump to a conclusion here, that Gebbie (a 38 year vet!) wasn’t giving back that $10 grand no matter what, and that was the root of the problem.  Whatever stood between Gebbie and doing his job is irrelevant.  He had the client’s cash and he wasn’t letting go.  The client’s wife was $10,000 in the hole, and likely incapable of affording a new attorney without a refund.  And Gebbie wasn’t giving anything back.  Not a dime.

This is the sort of conduct that brings lawyers, in general, and the criminal defense bar, in particular, into disrepute, and deservedly so.  So Gebbie was disbarred?  Not good enough.  He absolutely should have been disbarred, as he had no right to continue to enjoy the privilege of practicing law. 

But what he did, taking the money and leaving the defendant languishing in jail goes far beyond mere disbarment.  He was responsible for larceny and false imprisonment.  The fact that the defendant was innocent is certainly significant, but even if the defendant was guilty as sin it wouldn’t make a difference.  The duty of the criminal defense lawyer is to defend.  His failure to either serve his client or get off the case and return the fee is an outrage.  He’s an old man?  He had problems?  Too bad.  If he can’t hack it, get out of the business, but don’t ever think that this is excusable conduct by a criminal defense lawyer.