A 30-day suspension and probation could be in the future for Santa Barbara defense attorney Darryl Genis, according to a State Bar decision.
The State Bar’s review department upheld a judge’s ruling to suspend Genis, a popular DUI defense attorney who was accused of four misconduct counts relating to State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct in October 2013.
Calling Genis an “effective but confrontational” attorney, the review recommended he serve a 30-day suspension and two-year probation period — overruling a previous judge’s recommendation to suspend Genis for 90 days and force him to attend anger-management classes.
The review issued last week was prompted by two appeals of a February 2014 State Bar decision. One filed by Genis asked for full dismissal of charges, and the other from State Bar prosecutors requested a one-year suspension.
The review upheld the judge’s decision to dismiss two of the four charges, including filing a false and malicious State Bar complaint and committing acts of moral turpitude, and cited Genis’ “disrespectful attitude toward the superior court.”
“Nevertheless, a 90-day suspension is not supported by case law and fails to take into account the strength of the mitigating circumstances, particularly Genis’s long discipline-free legal career,” the review stated.
Before the suspension takes effect, it must be approved by the California Supreme Court, according to a State Bar spokeswoman.
The latest suspension could be appealed, but Genis said he won’t because the case falls outside court concern. He expected the court to approve the suspension in six months.
“I think this is a case where justice is imperfect,” he told Noozhawk. “I’m reasonably satisfied with the result.”
Genis said he would enjoy spending the suspension time off with his family and would pick up where he left off upon his return.
The four misconduct counts stem from a complaint filed by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office with the State Bar — a complaint Genis alleged was filed as a vendetta against him for being so good at defeating the office in DUI cases.
One count came after Genis repeatedly failed to attend trial readiness conferences in person for a San Luis Obispo County case, sending someone in his place that wasn’t adequately prepared.
In another count, a judge found that Genis willfully disobeyed a court order by failing to attend to those hearings in April 2011, for which he was fined $750.
In a separate Santa Barbara Superior Court DUI case, Genis was accused of purposefully violating a judge’s order to not admit certain evidence by asking law enforcement officers about their own disciplinary history.
The judge in that case sanctioned Genis $2,000, calling him a talented attorney who resorted to “unethical behavior.”
Before this case, Genis hadn’t been in trouble with the State Bar since he began practicing law in 1980, but he has been reprimanded locally.
Genis was found in contempt in July 2013 for calling opposing counsel a “little girl” in court, but he successfully appealed the decision.
He dodged charges in August 2014, when a judge accused Genis of willfully deceiving the court and violating court rules by photographing opposing counsel’s trial notes and interfering with those notes.
A judge found insufficient evidence in the case.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.