Discipline Notice - John W. Schmidtke

License Number: 13301
Member Name: John W. Schmidtke
Discipline Detail
Action: Reprimand
Effective Date: 5/12/1998
RPC:
Discipline Notice:
Description: John W. Schmidtke (WSBA No. 13301, admitted 1983), of Hawaii, has been reprimanded by the Supreme Court effective May 12, 1998. By order entered November 20, 1997, the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court ordered that Schmidtke receive a public reprimand for misconduct found by a hearing officer after a disciplinary hearing. By order dated May 12, 1998, pursuant to RLD 12.6, the Supreme Court of Washington reciprocated discipline as imposed by the Public Order of the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court. The reciprocal discipline is based upon Schmidtke’s dealings with a witness in a child custody matter.
Schmidtke’s discipline resulted from his proffering copies of sexually explicit photographs of a witness to that witness outside of court, while requesting that she stay out of the child custody proceedings. Schmidtke’s actions violated the Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 3.4 (h) (a lawyer shall not request a person other than a client to refrain from voluntarily giving relevant information to another party).
Respondent represented himself. Disciplinary Counsel Jean Kelley McElroy represented the Bar Association.


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