Domestic Violence Draws Disbarment Recommendation

The California State Bar Court Review Department has recommended disbarment of an attorney for repeated instance of domestic violence

This is Vincent J. Quigg’s fourth disciplinary proceeding and is a result of his misdemeanor conviction in a Los Angeles County Superior Court. On August 3, 2021, a jury found Quigg guilty of violating Penal Code section 273.6, subdivision (a) (violation of domestic relations protective order). The conviction was transmitted to the State Bar Court, and a hearing judge found the facts and circumstances of Quigg’s misdemeanor conviction involved moral turpitude. Considering this was Quigg’s fourth disciplinary matter—the second of which involved domestic violence-related conduct—and the lack of compelling mitigation, the judge recommended disbarment.

Quigg appeals, arguing that the facts and circumstances surrounding his conviction did not rise to the level of moral turpitude given his state of mind. He also argues less aggravation and more mitigation should have been afforded by the hearing judge and therefore requests a two-year actual suspension with conditions. The Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar (OCTC) does not appeal and requests we uphold the judge’s decision.

Upon our independent review (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.12), we find that the facts and circumstances surrounding Quigg’s misdemeanor conviction involved moral turpitude, and there is no compelling mitigation that predominates. Given these circumstances, we affirm the disbarment recommendation.

The victim

Quigg and A.S. met in 2003. A.S. and her parents were tenants in one of Quigg’s rental properties. At the time, A.S. was 21 years old with three young children and Quigg was 42 years old. Their landlord-tenant relationship eventually turned romantic. In 2008, Quigg employed A.S. as a translator at his law firm until May 2015. The couple married on December 24, 2010, and during their marriage, A.S.’s parents and children became financially dependent on Quigg. Quigg provided A.S.’s parents, who had limited English fluency, with housing, and he funded private school education for her children.

The crimes

Quigg became abusive toward A.S. within the first three years of their marriage. His behavior of abuse and violence continued throughout the course of their relationship. As established by his third disciplinary proceeding (Quigg III), on August 26, 2013, Quigg headbutted A.S., causing bruising and swelling on her forehead and face. The next day A.S. called the police, and Quigg was later criminally charged. Quigg pressured and coached A.S. to recant her allegations, but the district attorney did not believe her due to the photographic evidence and proceeded to trial. During Quigg’s criminal trial, A.S. again was pressured by Quigg, and she recanted her prior statements to police and testified that Quigg did not intentionally headbutt her and that the incident occurred accidentally. 1F 2 On April 1, 2014, Quigg was found guilty of one count of a misdemeanor violation of Penal Code section 273.5, subdivision (a) (corporal injury to a spouse). Quigg was placed on probation for three years with conditions, including that he perform community labor and complete a 52-week domestic violence treatment program. The superior court also issued a criminal protective order (CPO) forbidding Quigg to have contact with or come within 100 yards of A.S. A few months later, in December, the superior court modified the CPO to allow Quigg to have peaceful contact with A.S. Between 2014 and 2015, Quigg attended monthly counseling sessions and sought advice from his fellow church members and friends to address his marital issues with A.S.

Then

Late in the evening on September 15, 2019, A.S. and Quigg had a physical altercation in their car. The incident started at a restaurant where A.S. was having dinner with friends and Quigg’s sister. Around 11:00 p.m., A.S. asked Quigg’s sister to text Quigg to see if he could pick her up, because A.S. had forgotten her phone. Within about 15 minutes, Quigg arrived at the restaurant. Quigg appeared angry as he approached A.S. and then pulled her by the arm toward the exit. He refused to allow her to retrieve her purse. Once in the car, Quigg began yelling and called her a “fucking drunk whore” and a “slut” while A.S. remained silent. Quigg hit her on the left side of her face. When A.S. fought back, cutting Quigg’s eye, he punched her, resulting in her head hitting the car door and causing her extreme pain. at her parents’ home. 2F 3 Quigg dropped A.S. off at her parents' home.

Shortly thereafter, at approximately 12:50 a.m. on September 16, 2019, A.S. reported the incident to the police. Within a couple of hours, Quigg was arrested for domestic violence, but his arrest did not result in criminal prosecution. However, on September 16, A.S. was granted an EPO, effective through September 23, which required Quigg to stay 100 yards away from A.S. and the marital home, have no contact with A.S., and move out of the marital home. Quigg received a copy of the EPO on the date it was issued.

On September 19, 2019, while the EPO was in effect, Quigg drove to the marital home  During his deposition for this disciplinary proceeding, Quigg explained his motivation to risk violating the EPO: “It was not necessarily to wash my car. It was to sort of, kind of test the waters that [A.S.] created to see if she’s going to be like the last time where she is going to talk to me, communicate, you know, or whether she is going to be in strict compliance with everything. Which she ended up being. But I needed to figure that out.” Quigg was not criminally charged with violating the EPO.

TRO

On September 23, 2019, the day the EPO was set to expire, A.S. filed a marriage dissolution petition and a petition for a TRO against Quigg. A.S.’s declaration in support of the petition for a TRO detailed several allegations of domestic violence by Quigg between 2017 and 2019, including the September 2019 incident. In her declaration, A.S. stated that in 2017, during a trip to Las Vegas, Quigg punched and kicked her because he felt that she had embarrassed him in front of their friends. In February 2018, Quigg slapped her while she was having lunch with a friend at a restaurant; Quigg stipulated to this abuse. In August 2018, while at a restaurant with friends, Quigg threw a glass of water on A.S. and called her a “slut.” In August 2019, Quigg grabbed A.S.’s neck and choked her during a family gathering. In September 2019, when A.S. was unable to fix the work printer, Quigg threw various objects at her resulting in bruises on her arms and legs. The hearing judge found that although Quigg only admitted to the incidents where he slapped A.S. in the face and threw water on her, A.S. credibly testified regarding each of these abusive incidents in detail, some of which were witnessed by two of her friends and corroborated by their testimonies. A judge’s credibility findings are accorded great weight because the judge presided over the trial and heard the testimony.

The findings recite a number of violations of the TRO which led to the two misdemeanor convictions at issue here.

Sanction

Case law and standard 1.8(b) necessitate Quigg’s disbarment. A lesser discipline would not adequately protect the public and the courts and would not uphold confidence in the legal profession. 1 5F 16 (In the Matter of Burns, supra, 3 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. at p. 416 [discipline system is responsible for preserving integrity of legal profession as well as protection of public].)

(mike Frisch)