COLORADO SPRINGS, CO—(Marketwired – May 12, 2015) – Advocacy group A Just Cause filed an appeal with the California Bar Association against Attorney Mark Geragos citing that the attorney violated Rule 3–500, “Communication,” and Rule 3–110, “Failing to Act Competently†after receiving $100,000 in fees. (http://rules.calbar.ca.gov/Rules/RulesofProfessionalConduct/CurrentRules.aspx). (State Bar of California Complaint number 14–F–5036)
“If we had known what we know today, A Just Cause would not have gone with Geragos. As the complaint shows, A Just Cause is charging that Geragos didn’t fulfill his obligations to the client,” says Sam Thurman, A Just Cause. “In fact, A Just Cause and the families that retained Geragos feel that we were taken advantage of. Records will show that A Just Cause entered into an agreement with Geragos regarding the IRP6 case and the situation where the defendants were forced to take the witness stand. After reviewing the facts of the case, Geragos agreed to take the case and his firm came on board around the September timeframe 2013 after we remitted a $50,000 retainer,” says Thurman. “A Just Cause needed Geragos to develop and execute a strategy on behalf of six men known as the IRP6 who were wrongly convicted and have been sitting in prison for three years (D. Ct. No. 1:09–CR–00266–CMA). “After we engaged Mr. Geragos for the civil case, we asked if he could recommend someone for the IRP6 criminal side to file an emergency motion for Bond Pending Appeal,” claims Thurman. “Mr. Geragos stated that he wanted to take the criminal case as well, and after discussion with his partners he stated that it would cost the families an additional $50,000,” says Thurman. “$100,000 was a significant amount of money for A Just Cause and the families of the IRP6 to come up with, and for Geragos to treat it as something that doesn’t matter, deserves the Bar to take disciplinary action,” Thurman adds. In addition to that, Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause, stated that after speaking with a renowned Virginia attorney, he was told that, “Mr. Geragos’ actions were a clear case of fraud and that something needs to be done.â€
A Just Cause cites actions by Geragos during his representation of the organization in a civil lawsuit against the federal government as well as criminal representation of the IRP6. (Case numbers 1:13–cv–02260–RBJ and D. Ct. No. 1:09–CR–00266–CMA)
According to the complaint filed by the all–volunteer advocacy group, Geragos received a total of $100,000 retainer to represent the group and the IRP6. (Filed with The State Bar of California, http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys/LawyerRegulation.aspx)
The IRP6 case concerns an African–American company (IRP Solutions Corporation) in Colorado that developed the Case Investigative Life Cycle (CILC) criminal investigations software for federal, state, and local law enforcement. The IRP6 (Kendrick Barnes, Gary L Walker, Demetrius K. Harper, Clinton A Stewart, David A Zirpolo and David A Banks) were convicted in 2011 after being accused of mail and wire fraud. The defense argues that key elements of the court transcript, which were critical to the appeal, are missing and/or never delivered to the defendants by Judge Christine Arguello or Court Reporter Darlene Martinez. (D. Ct. No. 1:09–CR–00266–CMA).
“At the onset of the case Geragos was adamant about the innocence of the IRP6 executives ,” adds Thurman. “At first Geragos was very sincere even to the point of speaking about the case on Sirius XM Radio,” says Thurman.
“I was fascinated by the issue,” said Mark Geragos (“Inside The Issues,” Sirius XM, Channel 110, 12/7/13). “At first I was somewhat aghast and didn’t really believe (the story) the way it had been portrayed to me, but we dug into and drilled down in it… and the transcript has mysteriously disappeared,” adds Geragos. “Thirty–one years and this is the first time that I have ever encountered a federal court transcript disappearing,” Geragos expounds. “These are not crack dealers out on the corner,” proclaims Geragos. “These are guys who were out there trying to develop a program to help law enforcement, and by all accounts some world renown experts said it was a very good program and a helpful program, and something that just was not out on the market, and we are going to criminalize these guys and criminalize their corporation and their actions?” ponders Geragos. “And we’re going to warehouse them for years and years and years in federal prison and we don’t even have a transcript to back up what I consider to be a vital constitutional issue?†asserts Geragos. “So it’s almost like law enforcement cannibalized themselves in this case and you have to wonder what was the motivation. Who was driving this?” questions Geragos.
“The position that Mr. Geragos took at the beginning and what transpired later are quite different,” says Thurman. “Court records will show that Judge R. Brooke Jackson wanted to take immediate action during this case. Records show that Judge Jackson wanted to get to the bottom of the complaint and gave very specific directives to Geragos to act quickly,” says Thurman. Records show that Jackson stated that the prosecution wanted him to use the law to dismiss the case, but that he was not going to do that. Records further show that he stated that if the court reporter was present that he would put her on the stand and get to the bottom of where the transcripts were. “Our case was dismissed (1:13–cv–02260–RBJ) and we attribute that to the lack of communication and timeliness to act on the part of Mr. Geragos,” adds Thurman.
“Not only did Mr. Geragos lack communication with A Just Cause, but court records will show that it took him two and half months to respond to a specific request made by Judge Jackson to confirm whether or not transcripts were on file at the court clerk’s office (1:13–cv–02260–RBJ). We feel that his failure to act in response to Judge Jackson in a timely manner was disrespectful and a blatant slap in the face to the Judge and was also detrimental to our case,” exclaims Thurman. “Geragos’ lack to act to the Judge’s expeditious request is why we filed under Rule 3–500 (Communication) and 3–110 (Failing to Act Competently). In the situation of the request by Judge Jackson, Attorney Gwendolyn Solomon obtained the information within a day or so, and turned it over to Mr. Geragos, but nothing happened for over two months,” adds Thurman.
“In addition to issues raised during the civil and criminal cases, our complaint shows that Mr. Geragos conducted himself in a very unprofessional manner. The complaint shows the President of A Just Cause was cursed out by Mr. Geragos on more than one occasion and the IRP6 only had one conference call with him in which he disrespected them and hung up on them,” Thurman claims. The complaint filed by A Just Cause cites that Geragos did not want to consider strategy input from the IRP6 and even told them that they were going to spend their entire sentence in prison, a very inappropriate comment for an attorney to make to a client. (State Bar of California Complaint number 14–F–5036) The complaint also shows that Geragos set appointments that he didn’t keep and he continually put off A Just Cause and the IRP6, and failed to respond even after A Just Cause had exhausted every means of communication. “And when Geragos did have a call with A Just Cause, the call lasted for only five or ten minutes,†says Thurman. On numerous occasions A Just Cause had a call scheduled only to be put off by several days after being told that Geragos was either on a plane or with another client,” claims Thurman. “This is not the type of representation that one would expect from an attorney like Geragos who has the reputation that is depicted on CNN and other news shows,” exclaims Thurman. As we explore other cases, there is evidence that Geragos has a pattern of not being fully dedicated to non–high–profile cases. Records show that several years ago Michael Jackson released Geragos for not being fully committed to his case. According to Avvo legal referral service, several complaints have been filed against Geragos. One complaint alleges, the Geragos dropped them as a client after seven years and no money was left. Another complaint alleges that Geragos didn’t show up for court and dropped him after he could no longer pay fees. Avvo shows another complaint from 2013 where a former client alleges paying $25,000 in fees but Geragos didn’t show up for his case. (http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/90017–ca–mark–geragos–141596/reviews.html, 2013 – 2015 Geragos complaints).
According to the State Bar of California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3–500 Communication, “A member shall keep a client reasonably informed about significant developments relating to the employment or representation, including promptly complying with reasonable requests for information and copies of significant documents when necessary to keep the client so informed.†(http://rules.calbar.ca.gov/Rules/RulesofProfessionalConduct/CurrentRules/Rule3500.aspx)
According to the State Bar of California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3–110 Failing to Act Competently, sub (A), “A member shall not intentionally, recklessly, or repeatedly fail to perform legal services with competence.†(http://rules.calbar.ca.gov/Rules/RulesofProfessionalConduct/CurrentRules/Rule3110.aspx)
“It is our belief that Geragos violated the code of conduct of the attorney/client agreement. Geragos stole money from a non–profit organization. He took advantage of the IRP6 families, people who have now lost faith in the justice system. Geragos failed to act appropriately, motivated by greed that fueled his questionable behavior. He did not follow the protocol that he and all attorneys are bound to, and failed to act on all the critical points of the attorney/client agreement,†says Banks.
“A Just Cause charges that Attorney Geragos didn’t fulfill the requirements of Rule 3–500 or Rule 3–110 and for these reasons we are pressing the Bar to take disciplinary action,” says Thurman. “This complaint is a follow up to a complaint originally filed late 2014, but A Just Cause is asking if there are others who have fallen victim to the outrageous conduct of Mr. Geragos, please contact A Just Cause immediately,” added Thurman.
“A Just Cause is seeking justice and for Mr. Garegos to be held accountable for his unprofessional conduct. We feel that A Just Cause and the IRP6 families were exploited by a clear abuse of power, motivated by greed and calculated premeditation to defraud,†declares Banks. Again contact A Just Cause as we seek to ensure that this travesty of injustice never ever happens again.
Court records for the IRP6 case are included in D.C. No. 1:09–CR–00266–CMA, Appellate Case 11–1492.
For more information about the story of the IRP6 or for copies of the legal filings go to http://www.freetheirp6.org.
Related press releases: http://www.a–justcause.com/#!press–release/c21pq