STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. BASS-LESURE

STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. BASS-LESURE
2012 OK 27
Case Number: SCBD-5842
Decided: 03/12/2012
As Corrected: April 2, 2012
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

FOR PUBLICATION IN OBJ ONLY. NOT RELEASED FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION.

ORDER

¶1 Respondent’s request for hearing contained in the April 11, 2012, Response and Request for Hearing, is granted on the limited scope of mitigation and recommendation of discipline to be imposed.

¶2 The Professional Responsibility Tribunal is directed to hold such hearing within thirty (30) days of the date of this order. The trial panel shall follow procedures as set out in Rule 6, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings.

¶3 Briefs shall be filed according to the following schedule:

The Oklahoma Bar Association shall file its brief within twenty (20) days of the filing date of the report of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal. The application for costs shall be filed concurrent with the filing of the Brief in Chief of the Oklahoma Bar Association.

Respondent’s brief shall be filed not more than fifteen (15) days after the complainant’s brief is filed. Respondent’s response to the application for costs shall be filed concurrent with the filing of the Respondent’s brief.

Complainant may reply within ten (10) days after the respondent’s brief is filed.

¶4 DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT THIS 30th DAY OF APRIL 2012.

/S/CHIEF JUSTICE

STATE OF OKLAHOMA ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION, Complainant,
v.
TAMMY L. BASS-LESURE, Respondent.

ORDER OF IMMEDIATE INTERIM SUSPENSION

The Oklahoma Bar Association (OBA), in compliance with Rule 7.1 and 7.2 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings (RGDP), 5 O.S.2011, ch. 1, app. 1-A, has forward to this Court a certified copy of an order deferring sentence for a plea of guilty to two counts of violating title 56, section 185 of the Oklahoma Statutes. 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." This Court has received the certified copies of these papers and orders that Tammy L. Bass-Lesure is immediately suspended from the practice of law. Tammy L. Bass-Lesure, is directed to show cause, if any, no later than March 27, 2012, why this order of interim suspension should be set aside. See RGDP Rule 7.3. The OBA has until April 3, 2012, to respond to Tammy L. Bass-Lesure's statement should one be filed.

Rule 7.2 of the RGDP provides that the certified copies of the order deferring judgment and sentence "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,Tammy L. Bass-Lesure has until April 11, 2012, 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 April 26, 2012, to respond.

DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT IN CONFERENCE THIS 12th day of March 2012.

/S/CHIEF JUSTICE

Taylor, C.J., Colbert, V.C.J., and Kauger, Watt, Winchester, Edmondson, Reif, and Combs, JJ., concur.

Gurich, J., recused.