Maine defense lawyer charged with criminal OUI by grand jury
By Samantha Hogan of The Maine Check
A Maine company that oversees courtroom-appointed lawyers for indigent defendants will suspend an attorney who was indicted on prices that she allegedly drove under the influence and violated limitations on her motorists license that she not drink alcoholic beverages and work a car or truck.
A grand jury indictment filed in York County Exceptional Court earlier this week expenses legal professional Suzanne Dwyer-Jones, 58, with Criminal Running Under the Affect, a felony, stemming from a police end on May 10, 2021 that led to her arrest. She compensated bail and returned to operate as a law firm for the state’s lousy.
A grand jury indictment is not a finding of guilt, but fairly that there is enough evidence for prosecutors to move ahead with felony expenses.
Dwyer-Jones routinely signifies prison defendants on behalf of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Companies, or MCILS, which is liable for overseeing lawyers appointed by the courtroom to defend older people and juveniles who can’t afford to pay for to hire their have legal professional.
Dwyer-Jones will be suspended and no lengthier eligible to operate on fee circumstances starting off on Monday, Govt Director Justin Andrus wrote in a suspension letter on Friday.
Dwyer-Jones may well proceed to do the job on cases that have now been assigned to her, if she proposes a prepare to safeguard her clients in the future week. Otherwise she will be explained to to withdraw from all appointed cases, according to the letter.
Andrus said what happens up coming “depends on the selections she would make in response” to his letter.
Dwyer-Jones has been billed with driving below the influence at the very least 4 other occasions and been convicted two times of functioning a vehicle even though intoxicated in the last 10 years. A choose suspended her law license in 2013. Inside of days of staying reinstated to follow legislation in 2015, she was presented a position defending Maine’s bad.
MCILS suspended Dwyer-Jones and banned her from symbolizing defendants on the state’s behalf on May perhaps 20, 2021 for failing to report her arrest to MCILS. She was reinstated on Jan. 4 since no felony expenses had been submitted. Considering that then, she was qualified to characterize indigent defendants in felony, drug offense, domestic violence, driving beneath the impact and misdemeanor circumstances, documents exhibit.
Dwyer-Jones did not return a phone requesting comment on Friday. A gentleman who answered the cell phone mentioned she rented space at his business office and he was not knowledgeable of the charges.
No court docket visual appeal was scheduled as of Friday. It was not immediately apparent if Dwyer-Jones experienced a attorney.
The Board of Overseers of the Bar that is in charge of lawyer licensing in Maine mentioned Dwyer-Jones has no grievance issues pending. The place of work has no comment on the indictment, stated Board Clerk Melissa Littlehale.
District Lawyer Jonathan Sahrbeck reported his business office does not remark on pending cases.
This story was at first published by The Maine Monitor. The Maine Check is a neighborhood journalism item released by The Maine Centre for Public Fascination Reporting, a nonpartisan and nonprofit civic news group.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/H2SYWLLZZJMFTDGXU2EWQBXE3A.jpg "It’s official: Lawyer awards (at least some of them) are scams")
