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In re Otuonye

The trial court was entitled to impose a fine in the amount of the appellant's earned fees, if any, as punishment for effectively holding the appellant in criminal contempt for failing to appear in state court for his criminal defendant clients' 9:00 a.m. calendar call.

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Vincent Otuonye appeals a state court order removing him as appointed legal counsel for two indigent criminal defendants and further denying his request to bill the county for any services provided to the defendants. Because Otuonye has failed to demonstrate any reversible error, we affirm. On November 30, 2004, Otuonye failed to appear at a 9:00 a.m. call of the jury pre-trial calendar for the two clients. The court asked the clients about Otuonye’s whereabouts and whether they had any contact with him. The defendants reported that they did not know of Otuonye’s whereabouts and that they had not had any contact with him. They further requested that a different attorney be appointed to represent them. The court checked with its secretary, the solicitor, and the clerk, inquiring whether they knew of Otuonye’s whereabouts or the reason for his absence. They answered they did not. Otuonye had filed no conflict letter. The court granted Otuonye’s clients’ requests for new counsel.

Thereafter, at about 10:30 a.m., Otuonye appeared in the courtroom. Otuonye explained to the court that he had been in superior court that morning for 9:00 arraignments and that not until between 9:20 and 9:40 a.m. did he realize that he had forgotten to file written notification with the state court of his scheduling conflict. Otuonye told the court that when he then attempted to contact the chambers by telephone, he reached “an answering machine to the effect that this telephone number has been disconnected and no further information is available on that line.”

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