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Summary: Cleveland attorney loses law license indefinitely until he can prove that he has freed himself of his habit of lying.
How does one prove that he has broken his habit of lying? It is not known, but on Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court observed in Cleveland Metro. Bar Assn. v. McElroy (unpublished slip opinion) that the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline had recommended an indefinite suspension of the law license of Kenneth McElroy “until Respondent can demonstrate that he has broken this pattern of lying.” And the court said, “We adopt the board’s findings of fact and misconduct, and we find that an indefinite suspension is appropriate ….”
But the court did not clarify how, the respondent Kenneth Kelly McElroy of Cleveland, Attorney, should prove that he has been able to break the “pattern of lying.” So, the loss of McElroy’s license seems to be for good. And it all started with McElroy’s girlfriend trying to run him over with a car he had gifted her.
The court observed, “Many of his ethics violations arose from a relationship with a woman who, in May 2004, attempted to run over him with her automobile. Because he did not want her to be prosecuted for felony assault, McElroy testified in an affidavit that “the whole situation was an unfortunate accident,” even though he later admitted in court and under oath that hers was an intentional act.”
The girl and the car put McElroy in a mess.
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The opinion noted, “McElroy had purchased the automobile for this girlfriend, and then, after a disagreement with her, he took the vehicle. She wanted the car back, made attempts to get it back, and ultimately called the police, reported it stolen, and notified McElroy that she had filed a report with the police. McElroy later notarized her alleged signature on a motor vehicle title without administering the oath and without actually witnessing her sign it, transferring in that process the ownership of the vehicle from his girlfriend to an acquaintance.”
A four-day bench trial, later, found McElroy guilty of forgery and tampering with evidence.
Earlier, in 2004, McElroy had been charged with domestic violence and child endangering, but his girlfriend never showed up in court to testify and the charges were dismissed. However, he had been convicted once of assault in 1993, and again for another charge of assault in 2005. However, when later McElroy filed a “Motion for Sealing of Record of First Offense,” to expunge the criminal records of the 2005 conviction, he did not mention the 1993 conviction.
The Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline for attorneys found McElroy demonstrated engaging consistently in a pattern of lying and the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to suspend his law license indefinitely.
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