The board governing attorney conduct of Pennsylvania said recently it expects to do an investigation in a Philadelphia attorney after getting a U.S. Supreme Court referral.
In a rare approach, the SC asked the board early this week to investigate the death penalty appeal the attorney filed for killer Michael Ballard. Ballard informed the court he didn’t give the court an appeal authorization and clearly indicated he accepts death as his end.
The SC shot down the appeal in late June but not prior to Ballard criticizing the filing. Ballard pleaded guilty to the murders.
Marc Bookman, the attorney, informed the court he filed the appeal after another attorney informed him that Ballard wanted one. Bookman, currently the director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, didn’t identify the other attorney other than being employed at the Federal Community Defender Office in Philadelphia.
Such investigation will take month. Possible sanctions may range from private admonition to disbarment.
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