An appeals board with the State Bar of California slashed the time attorney Darryl Genis should be suspended from practicing law due to courtroom misconduct from three months to just one.
A State Bar court had “sentenced” Genis to a three-month suspension in 2013 for repeatedly defying judges’ instructions and conducting himself in what one judge described as “a confrontational, accusatory, and disdainful” manner. Both Genis and prosecutors with the State Bar appealed. Genis contended it was too harsh and sought a private reproval instead; prosecutors contended it was too weak and demanded a full year’s suspension. In response, the appeals panel cut the proverbial baby not in half, but in thirds, thus allowing Genis to claim two-thirds of a victory.
For the outspoken and ever embattled Genis, this ruling marks the third such victory in the past six months. He was found not guilty in one highly publicized contempt-of-court action brought against him last summer for allegedly rifling through the papers of a prosecuting attorney during a courtroom break and then lying about it to the judge. More recently, an appeals court overturned a contempt action — and $1,000 fine — brought against Genis by Judge Jean Dandona for calling a prosecuting attorney a "little girl.”