A Kentucky Supreme Court trial commissioner has recommended to the Kentucky Bar Association that Christian County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling be suspended from practicing law for five years following several months of testimony.
The report came after the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a show-cause order in May to determine if Boling should be suspended because of previous instances of alleged professional misconduct and a delay in negotiating an agreed sanction on the previous two incidents.
The order was signed Wednesday by Trial Commissioner Roderick Messer and stems from a five-count finding regarding two cases from Christian County Circuit Court.
Two incidents regarding Boling’s conduct in those cases were the only ones referenced in the order. The Kentucky Bar Association’s Inquiry Commission, an independent body appointed by the Supreme Court to receive and process complaints from any source which allege professional misconduct by lawyers, investigated both of them.
The Inquiry Commission issued a complaint against Boling in February 2020 concerning a letter Boling wrote on Christian County Commonwealth’s Attorney letterhead to then-Governor Matt Bevin concerning a pardon request for Dayton Jones, who was convicted of sexual assault. The Inquiry Commission said Boling’s letter contended “Jones’ biggest problem is that the Democratic Party controlled then-prosecutor Lynn Pryor, the judge in the case John Atkins, and Jones’ defense counsel. Boling offered no evidence to those claims. Bevin commuted Jones’ sentence and the order said Boling’s letter received extensive media attention.
After the letter was made public, Boling said he reached an informal agreement with Judge Self and Judge Atkins to not appear in the courthouse for a period of time.
A proposed 60-day suspension for Boling, probated for one year, was considered inadequate by the Supreme Court, which rejected the punishment and remanded it back to the Commission for further proceedings.
Six months later, the Inquiry Commission initiated a second complaint against Boling in the case regarding Karen Brafman who was charged with two counts of arson and six counts of attempted murder. The Supreme Court reversed a circuit court jury’s conviction in December 2020 due to Boling’s misconduct. The reversal order said Boling was personally aware of evidence that Brafman was intoxicated and argued to the court that evidence of her intoxication did not exist.
A 120-day suspension, with 60 days to serve and 60 days probated, for his conduct in the Brafman case was again rejected by the Supreme Court which called the punishment inadequate.
Over the past year, extensions and delays were granted for Boling and the Bar Counsel to reach an agreement on his punishment, similar to a plea agreement that prosecutors and defense attorneys hammer out in criminal court.
The Supreme Court called the charges against Boling serious and said they would not wait for the Bar Counsel and Boling to reach an agreement on the sanctions.
Initial hearings began in August and concluded in October in Hopkinsville. The trial commissioner felt Boling made false statements about Judge Atkins in the Jones pardon request letter that he knew were false and made other multiple statements he also knew to be false.
In the Brafman case, Messer recommended Boling be found guilty of misleading the jury in the case by failing to disclose evidence, did not share findings with the defense regarding Brafman’s intoxication, and made dishonest and grossly misleading statements to the jury.
It also said his misconduct had multiple aggravating factors such as a pattern of misconduct, refusal to acknowledge a wrongful nature of conduct in the Brafman case, and a dishonest or selfish motive in gaining a conviction in the Brafman case.
The recommendations are a preliminary opinion and will be sent to the Kentucky Bar Association for a final resolution. The Bar can choose to agree with Messer’s recommendation of a five-year law license suspension or reach a different resolution. Boling can appeal any decision to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
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