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Defense attorneys in ‘Slow Down’ program facing disciplinary charges

The Pleasants County Courthouse overlooking downtown St. Marys. (File Photo)

CHARLESTON — West Virginia legal watchdogs are now targeting attorneys who represented clients whose criminal charges were dropped exchange of donations to a now defunct Christmas program in St. Marys.

At least four attorneys in private practice have been charged by the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) in mid-November in connection to the dismissal of misdemeanor criminal charges by Pleasants County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Carr and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Marteney in exchange for donations to the St. Marys Police Department’s Slow Down for the Holidays program.

Three of the four charging documents could not be released publicly by the Clerk of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals because the office had not received receipt that the statement of charges had been received by the three attorneys. According to an order filed Sept. 26 by the Hearing Panel Subcommittee of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board, at least eight attorneys are being investigated by the OCD in connection to the Slow Down program.

But one charging document was able to be released Thursday by the state court system. According to a statement of charges issued Nov. 16,, Martinsburg defense attorney Harley Wagner was charged by the ODC with one count of violating the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 8.4(d) states that “it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to … engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

According to the statement of charges, Wagner was the attorney for Thomas Truette Buckley who was charged in 2018 with first offense driving under the influence and having no proof of insurance after a one vehicle accident in Pleasants County where Buckley’s vehicle had gone over an embankment and landed sideways. Buckley retained Wagner, a co-owner of the Wagner Law Firm who specializes in DUI defense.

A pre-trial hearing was held Dec. 14, 2018 – 12 days before Christmas. Wagner presented proof of Buckley’s insurance and explained that Buckley was a resident of Texas and only in Pleasants County for his work in the oil and natural gas industry, with a DUI conviction having adverse consequences for Buckley’s career. That’s when Carr offered to dismiss the charges against Buckley in exchange for Buckley purchasing $2,500 in gift cards for the Slow Down program.

Buckley went to a local Walmart and purchased the $2,500 in gift cards that same day, delivering the gift cards directly to a member of Carr’s staff. The motion to dismiss was made that same day and approved by former Pleasants County Magistrate Lisa Taylor.

Speaking by phone Friday, Wagner said he had only just met his client in person for the first time at the Dec. 14 hearing and was in St. Marys for barely an hour. He said when the Slow Down program was explained to him, Carr said the program was endorsed by both city and county law enforcement and the court system, giving it an air of legitimacy. With Christmas just around the corner, Wagner said he and his client thought they were helping children during the holidays.

“I can see how it appeared looking back, but my heart was pure, my mind was pure, my motives were pure,” Wagner said. “I was greeted with something that seemed so honorable and so genuine and such a good thing. It was this whole system saying to my client that your penance was to give back to our community and our children in need at Christmastime. If you’re willing to do that, we’re willing to show you some mercy and compassion.

“In the moment, it felt so honorable and so noble,” Wagner continued. “There wasn’t one thing about it where my antenna went up, and I have a good antenna. This whole thing has just been a surreal nightmare.”

According to the OCD, the arresting officer was not consulted as to the deal between Buckley and Carr. There is also no record of any payment of gift cards through St. Marys Magistrate Court for the Slow Down program, nor any record that Carr gave the $2,500 in gift cards to the program or the City of St. Marys.

“There is no statute, rule, or case law that allows for the dismissal of a criminal case in exchange for Defendant Buckley paying money to (Wagner) and/or paying money to the Slow Down for the Holiday program,” wrote Letitia Chafin, chairperson of the Investigative Panel of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board.

“Slow Down for the Holidays was not sanctioned by state law,” Chafin continued. “(Wagner), in reliance upon Prosecutor Carr and APA Marteney’s representations, represented to his client Defendant Buckley that the misdemeanor case could be disposed of in a legal manner in exchange for Defendant Buckley’s payment of money or goods to the Slow Down for the Holidays program, he violated Rule 8.4(d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Wagner has already filed a verified response to his statement of charges with the Investigative Panel of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board. Beyond his fee to his client, Wagner said he did not personally benefit for accepting the dismissal deal for his client

“There was zero benefit that I received,” Wagner said. “With a 25-year career, I thought something good and noble was happening and some mercy and compassion was being shown. Yeah, I see it and it was a mistake to not see it. But I had been there for 40 minutes … it felt so legitimate. It’s just not fair. Just because I feel I get it and I made a mistake in not seeing it at the time, that doesn’t make me guilty of prejudicing the administration of justice.”

The Slow Down program began in 2008 while Carr was a municipal judge for St. Marys. The program would dismiss minor traffic infractions between October and December each year in exchange for donations of $50 gift cards or the equivalent of $50 in toys. The Pleasants County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and the Pleasants County Sheriff’s Department became involved in the program in 2018 two years after Carr was elected as the county’s prosecuting attorney.

The Investigative Panel of the West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board charged Carr and Marteney last October of multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct for dismissing select state misdemeanor charges between 2018 and 2020 in exchange for monetary donations to the Slow Down program.

Carr’s and Marteney’s cases remain paused due to a federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the North District of West Virginia into the Slow Down program. Former St. Marys Police Department clerk Carolyn Taylor pleaded guilty to perjury at the beginning of the summer for lying to federal investigators about taking gift cards from the Slow Down program for personal use.

State investigators said Carr and Marteney’s selection of only a few misdemeanor cases, some for driving under the influence, in exchange for monetary donations constituted a “bribe.” Carr alone is accused of 178 violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct in 21 separate counts. The ODC filed a petition March 11 seeking the immediate suspension of Carr’s law license with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

An investigation last year by the Judicial Investigation Commission resulted in the resignations of the former magistrates Taylor and Randy Nutter for their role in the Slow Down program.

The Investigative Panel of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board also found that the City of St. Marys did not keep track of funds to the Slow Down program, nor did it track how donations to the program were spent. According to state investigators, the city attorney requested an audit of the program by the State Auditor’s Office because the Slow Down program was not run through city accounts.

According to the results of a subpoena, more than $41,000 was collected by the program from defendants between 2018 and 2020, but city officials have no accounting for the funds collected or how proceeds to the Slow Down program were maintained or disbursed.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com

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