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State Bar can't discipline DuBose now he's a judge The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Alabama State Bar Association couldn't discipline Circuit Judge Stuart DuBose for inappropriate actions he made prior to becoming a judge. The high court ruled 5-4 that any disciplinary action by the state organization that represents Alabama's lawyers would have to wait until DuBose is no longer a judge. Concurring on the question were Justices Haold F. See, Thomas A. Woodall, Lyn Stuart, Tom Parker and Michael F. Bolin. The ruling does not apply to charges pending against DuBose before the Court of the Judiciary. The Judicial Inquiry Commission brought a 60- count complaint against DuBose for ethical misconduct that does include the matter that the bar association was looking into. DuBose argued after he took office that the bar association no longer had jurisdiction since he was now a judge and no longer an attorney in private practice. The majority of the Supreme Court justices agreed but Justice Champ Lyons of Mobile writing for the four justices who dissented said, "Treating the rule as preventing the State Bar from disciplining a judge for conduct that occurred before taking office gives the judge an unwarranted immunity." Others dissenting included Justices Patricia M. Smith and Glenn Murdock and Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb. The matter relates to a will that attorney DuBose prepared for Washington County resident Joseph L. Sullivan in 2003. DuBose never met the man and prepared the will as Sullivan's caregiver, Cheryl Weaver, instructed, leaving the $2.5 million estate to her. Sullivan's relatives contested the will but settled, leaving the estate to Weaver. Weaver and DuBose initially shared executor duties but fell out over DuBose's attorney fees and a lawsuit resulted. An anonymous complaint was filed with the bar association after DuBose won the Democratic nomination in 2006 but before he took office in January 2007. The bar association initially leveled a 45-day suspension but the Supreme Court overruled it, saying the penalty was not sufficient. Some observed at the time that the 45-day suspension was done so it would be over with before the November general election. Some suggested that if DuBose had been suspended on Election Day in November 2006, he could not have been elected judge. The lawsuit was eventually settled without a trial, after DuBose became a judge and DuBose agreed to a settlement. In August 2007, the trial judge in the case ordered DuBose to pay Weaver $1.19 million, apparently after he failed to meet the requirements of the settlement. Just last week, DuBose, in answering the Judicial Inquiry Commission's complaint, said he had "diminished capacity" during the period covered by the allegations, which date back to the will-writing matter and includes activities that happened while he was judge.
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