HOUSTON (Legal Newsline) - A Texas appeals court has refused to reinstate an attorney disbarred after being found guilty on an evidence tampering charge.
The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas on Feb. 25 upheld a lower-court ruling that rejected reinstatement for Mikel Peter Eggert.
Eggert, who worked with his father-in-law’s practice was found guilty in 2005 of conspiring to tamper with or fabricate physical evidence. He was sentenced to five years probation and disbarred for having a felony conviction. He filed a petition in 2008 to be reinstated.
A trial court found that Eggert “ failed to meet his burden of proof that the best interests of the public and the profession, as well as the ends of justice, would be served by his re-instatement.”
On appeal, Eggert argued that he had no history of fraudulent behavior or disciplinary actions his conviction and disbarment. Also, his crime did not cause financial harm to anyone.
However, the State Bar of Texas said Eggert “continued to deny his role in the efforts to get two witnesses to sign false affidavits.” He also placed the majority of the blame for the crimes on his father, the bar said.
"The trial court reasonably could have determined that Eggert was not taking sufficient responsibility for his actions because he repeatedly shifted blame to his father as the mastermind," the appeals court panel held.
When asked at a disciplinary hearing whether he had learned any lessons, Eggert replied, “don’t practice law in a small town.”
“Having determined that the trial court had sufficient evidence on which to exercise its discretion, and having determined that its application of its discretion was within the zone of reasonable disagreement, we conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Eggert’s petition to reinstate,” the appeals court panel held.
Texas Court of Appeals for the First District 01-19-00429-CV