Attorney Smith represented a defendant accused of aggravated…
Attorney Smith represented a defendant accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. After speaking with client, attorney believed client was completely innocent of charges. Smith let client know that he was confident they would win at trial and implored client to agree to jury trial, as he had similar cases in past and had been successful. Client, having never been incarcerated before, informed Smith to seek a plea deal and that he would accept anything less than 1 year in jail rather than go to trial and face possibility of 15-year maximum sentence. Attorney Smith met with district attorney, explained weaknesses of case, and let him know his intent was to win case in front of jury unless client was offered probation only with no jail time. District attorney offer plea agreement of 364 days in county jail to settle case. Smith immediately refused offer and told the client that they would be going to trial because plea offer was “unacceptable from a lawyer who was asleep for half of his law school classes.”Is Attorney Smith subject to discipline ?