Presently Fit

The Ohio Supreme Court has approved an applicant to sit for the bar exam

Applicant, Zachary Charles Daubenmire, of Thornville, Ohio, is a 2011 graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. In November 2013, we found that Daubenmire failed to carry his burden of proving that he possessed the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice law in Ohio because of his 2007 felony conviction for pandering obscenity involving a minor and his continuing duty to register as a sexually oriented offender until February 2017. In re Application of Daubenmire, 137 Ohio St.3d 435, 2013- Ohio-4977, 999 N.E.2d 669, ¶ 1-3, 19-20. We therefore disapproved his application to register as a candidate for admission to the practice of law and authorized him to reapply as a candidate for the July 2018 bar exam. Id. at ¶ 3, 20

In November 2022, Daubenmire applied to register as a candidate for admission to the practice of law in Ohio by completing a National Conference of Bar Examiners questionnaire.

Two members of the Licking County Bar Association Admissions Committee interviewed Daubenmire in April 2023. In each of their reports to the admissions committee, the interviewers stated that Daubenmire did not possess the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law. Specifically, the interviewers were concerned that Daubenmire tended to minimize his criminal conduct and that he failed to appreciate that his felony offense was not victimless. Citing several incidents that occurred from 2015 through 2017 and Daubenmire’s admission to drinking alcohol frequently, the interviewers also expressed concern that Daubenmire exhibited signs of potential alcohol abuse, a pattern of poor anger management, and a pattern of disregard for Ohio laws. Based on the interviewers’ reports, the admissions committee issued a final report recommending disapproval of Daubenmire’s character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice law.

The applicant appealed

The matter is before this court pursuant to Gov.Bar R. I(13)(D)(5)(a) and (b), because Daubenmire’s conviction was for a second-degree felony under Ohio law. Because we find that Daubenmire has established that he presently possesses the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law in Ohio, we approve his pending registration application and permit him to sit for the July 2024 bar exam.

Felony conviction

His sexual-health therapist opined in a June 2012 letter to the Office of Bar Admissions that Daubenmire’s interest in pornography “was not motivated by a sexual deviance disorder or a psychological pathology. Rather, it was the product of complicated sexual conflicts of a young man whose conservative religious background suppressed normal sexual drive.”

Alcohol use

The board found, and we agree, that Daubenmire has presented clear and convincing evidence that his alcohol use is not a character-and-fitness issue that should result in disapproval of his pending application.

Anger issues

On November 22, 2015, Daubenmire called the Hebron Police Department to report that three men had assaulted him at a bar near his home. According to the police report, Daubenmire told police that he entered the bar after the Ohio State University football team had lost a game and that to tease his acquaintances at the bar, he said, “How about them Buckeyes?” He stated that sometime thereafter, a man approached him and asked if he was a registered sex offender. Daubenmire claimed that after he answered that question in the affirmative, the man got mad, stated that he had a child, and then grabbed Daubenmire and took him to the ground. Daubenmire further stated that he was then punched and kicked by that man and two others until other people stepped in to break up the fight.

According to the police report, one of the men admitted that he had asked Daubenmire if he was a sex offender but told the officer that Daubenmire had elbowed him in the stomach before he took Daubenmire to the ground in selfdefense. The two other men purportedly involved in the incident told police that they never touched Daubenmire. No charges were filed against Daubenmire or any of the three men over the incident.

During his 2023 character-and-fitness interview and at his 2024 hearing, Daubenmire also described an incident in which he and his cousin got into a shouting match on a golf course sometime in 2016. He testified that there was no violence and that his father stepped in to calm him and his cousin down.

On October 15, 2016, at a Dollar General store, Daubenmire attempted to return or exchange a pair of earbuds that did not work. The store clerk called the Hebron Police Department and reported that Daubenmire got mad when she would not accept the return without a receipt, cursed at her, and threw the earbuds at her face. She stated that the earbuds struck her, and the officer who responded to the call observed a scratch on the right side of her face. Daubenmire told the officer that he had ripped up the earbuds and threw them into the air before leaving the store.

He pled to a minor misdemeanor.

Simce then

There was no evidence presented at the 2024 hearing that Daubenmire had engaged in any other angry outbursts since the incident with the store clerk in October 2016—a period of more than seven years—or committed any alcohol-related offenses since his July 2017 open-container offense.

The court

Daubenmire has testified candidly about each of the incidents discussed above and acknowledged the wrongfulness of his conduct. He participated in several years of mental-health counseling to address his sexually oriented misconduct and voluntarily sought and committed himself to almost two years of additional mental-health treatment to address his subsequent angermanagement issues. And most recently, he has participated in marital counseling with his wife to help with managing the everyday stresses of marriage and parenting two young children. He has demonstrated his growth and maturation through his willingness to seek help when his stress begins to affect his mental health. He also wisely delayed his second application to register as a candidate for the bar exam until he was able to demonstrate that his anger-management issues had been under control for an extended period. Moreover, in his sworn application to take the July 2024 bar exam, Daubenmire answered “no” to all questions about various types of conduct or actions that could have been taken against him since he filed his registration application. He has therefore indicated that he has no new information, conduct, or behavior to report that could call into question his ability to practice law in a competent, ethical, and professional manner.

In addition, Daubenmire has found a dedicated mentor in Weaver and demonstrated his commitment to the profession by working competently, diligently, and professionally as a law clerk at Weaver’s firm for about 12 years. In short, Daubenmire has accepted responsibility for his past actions, made efforts to learn from those actions and avoid repeating them, and has successfully demonstrated his rehabilitation.

Upon consideration of the record and the applicable rules, we find that Daubenmire has carried his burden of proving that he currently possesses the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law.

KENNEDY, C.J., and FISCHER, J., dissent and would not allow Daubenmire to take the July 2024 bar exam. (Mike Frisch)