|
Christopher W. Duren (“Duren”), age 37, is a
Wisconsin-licensed attorney, admitted to
practice in this State on September 30,
1997.
Duren represented a client who was charged
in November 2004 in separate OWI 2nd cases
filed in Juneau and Dane Counties. The
client had a previous OWI 1st conviction,
dating back to 2002. The Juneau County OWI
2nd case was filed very shortly after the
Dane County OWI 2nd case. The Juneau County
case, however, was resolved before the Dane
County case.
Duren was present with his client in Juneau
County Circuit Court on March 4, 2005, when
the client’s Juneau County case was resolved
with the entry of a no contest plea to the
OWI 2nd charge and the dismissal of a charge
of second offense Operating with PAC .08 or
More. The judgment of conviction in the
Juneau County case was entered on March 4,
2005.
On March 9, 2005, five days after the
resolution of the Juneau County case, Duren
was present with his client in Dane County
Circuit Court, when the client’s Dane County
case was resolved with the entry of a no
contest plea to the OWI 2nd charge and the
dismissal of a charge of second offense
Operating with PAC .08 or More. The Dane
County Circuit Court Judge who presided at
the March 9, 2005 plea and sentencing
hearing was unaware that Duren’s client had
just been convicted of OWI 2nd in Juneau
County, in a case filed after the Dane
County case.
In the course of the March 9, 2005 plea and
sentencing hearing in Dane County Circuit
Court, the presiding judge asked Duren’s
client, “And do you understand also that
you’re charged as a repeat offender, this
being a second offense based on a prior
conviction for the same offense on November
19th of 2002?” Duren’s client answered in
the affirmative. At the same plea and
sentencing hearing, the judge inquired as to
the joint sentence recommendation, and
stated:
Mr. Duren, that’s a high blood alcohol
level
for a minimum jail sentence recommendation.
Do you have anything more to say regarding
the rationale behind that or any reason why
it’s a minimum jail sentence?
Duren responded, stating in part:
…His last conviction was in 2002. He
was –
he’s 39 years old and he is employed as a
pharmacist with Wal-Mart, and given the
nature, even though he did have a high blood
alcohol content, you know, I believe the DA
possibly – I’m not speaking for [the
prosecution] – but possibly the fact [the
defendant] does deal with bipolar and that
was mentioned to the police officer and that
was included in the police report. I don’t
know if that had a factor at all, but he was
very cooperative with the police officers…
Duren’s representation to the court that his
client’s last conviction was in 2002 was
false, and he knew it was false, because he
had been present with his client just five
days earlier, on March 4, 2005, when his
client was convicted of OWI 2nd in Juneau
County Circuit Court.
|
|
By making a knowing misrepresentation to the
court concerning the timing of his client’s
last OWI conviction, Duren violated former
SCR 20:3.3(a)(1), effective prior to July 1,
2007, which states, “A lawyer shall not
knowingly make a false statement of fact or
law to a tribunal.”
Duren has no prior discipline.
In accordance with SCR 22.09(3), Attorney
Christopher W. Duren is hereby publicly
reprimanded.
|