We cannot let the term pass without commenting on the Supreme Court’s opinion in In the Matter of Yaron Helmer, decided on March 6, 2019. Helmer had been first assistant prosecutor in Cumberland County. He later contacted a former colleague in the Prosecutor’s Office, David Branco, then chief of the major crimes and organized crimes bureau, in an effort to have the office pursue criminal charges against an entity and its principals that had passed bad checks to a client. According to the charges, Helmer orchestrated the prosecution, including preparation and sealing of the indictment and the setting of a bail recommendation that would provide enough cash to serve as restitution to the client upon disposition. Branco assigned the matter to G. Harrison Walters, then a relatively new prosecutor with little experience with such cases, who presented the case to the grand jury solely through the testimony of Helmer. After the indictment was returned, bail in the amount of $150,000 (“full cash”) was set. Ultimately, the prosecutor learned of the scheme and successfully moved to dismiss the indictment and take disciplinary action against Branco and Walters.

On the complaint filed by the Office of Attorney Ethics against Helmer, alleging violations of RPCs 3.4(g) and 8.4 (a) and (d), a special ethics master recommended dismissal of all charges. A majority of the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) agreed with the dismissal of the charge under RPC 3.4 (g) (presenting “criminal charges to obtain an improper advantage in a civil matter”). However, it concluded that Helmer violated RPC 8.4(a) (violating or attempting to violate, or assisting or inducing another to violate, the RPCs) and RPC 8.4(d) (engaging in “conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice”). Three members believed violation of RPC 3.4(g) had been proven, and two members believed that all charges should have been dismissed.

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