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CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals sided with the state's watchdog for attorneys in holding Paul Marteney, the former assistant prosecuting attorney for Pleasants County, in contempt of court.
The court issued a memorandum decision Thursday granting a motion by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel to hold Marteney in contempt for not abiding by certain requirements of an order issued by the Lawyer Disciplinary Board to end a previous 90-day suspension of Marteney's law license issued by the Supreme Court last September.
Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments from the ODC in May seeking to hold Marteney in contempt of court, though Marteney refused to argue on his behalf. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel argued Marteney was not in compliance with Rule 3.28 of the Rules of Lawyer Disciplinary Procedure.
Rule 3.28 requires disbarred or suspended attorneys to notify all clients and advise them to seek legal advice elsewhere, inform clients with pending cases before courts to substitute a new lawyer for the suspended/disbarred attorney or to withdraw as counsel, and file affidavits with the ODC confirming that they complied with the rule. Marteney also did not pay the costs for the proceedings, totaling $1,885.
"Due to his failure to comply with the Sept. 12, 2023, suspension order, this court holds
M. Paul Marteney in contempt of court," the memorandum decision stated. "Mr. Marteney's license to practice law in the state of West Virginia remains suspended until he demonstrates full compliance with this court's order and successfully petitions for reinstatement under Rule 3.32 of the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure."
The September 2023 order stemmed from a Nov. 1, 2022, statement of charges filed against Marteney by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, a state agency that investigates alleged wrongdoing of licensed attorneys in West Virginia.
Marteney was charged with multiple counts of violating the state Rules of Professional
Conduct for failing to handle a case for Jinjer Nutter competently and timely, failing to reduce his contingency fee agreement or provide the agreement in writing to Nutter, failing to keep Nutter informed about her case, using his public office as assistant prosecutor and his staff for private matters, and failing to respond to the ODC.
According to the statement of charges, Nutter filed an ethics complaint Dec. 15, 2021, against Marteney, alleging that Marteney refused to refund a $200 filing fee after Marteney dropped the ball on a civil lawsuit for a traffic accident Nutter had contracted with Marteney to represent her on. After the filing of the suit, Nutter was unable to make contact with Marteney.
Nutter's case was dismissed in August 2020 after inactivity by Marteney, who also failed to respond to multiple requests from the ODC. After being charged by the ODC, Marteney provided an answer to the charges, admitting to some of the charges, but denying he intentionally tried to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.
According to Thursday's memorandum decision, Marteney did refund Nutter the $200 filing fee. But in order to have his law license reinstated, Marteney must provide the required disclosure to clients of the suspension of his law license, file an affidavit with the clerk of the Supreme Court providing proof of compliance and to pay the costs associated with the proceedings.
Since his suspension in 2023, Marteney stopped serving as assistant prosecuting attorney in Pleasants County. Marteney and Pleasants County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Carr remain under state and federal investigation for their role in the Slow Down for the Holidays program that began in 2008 when Carr was a municipal judge for the city of St. Marys.
The Slow Down program would dismiss minor traffic infractions in the months prior to Christmas each year in exchange for donations of $50 gift cards or the equivalent of $50 in toys. The Pleasants County Prosecuting Attorney's office and the Pleasants County Sheriff's Department became involved in the program in 2018 after Carr took office, when the two began to dismiss certain misdemeanor charges, such as driving under the influence, in exchange for the donation of gift cards and sometimes cash to the Slow Down program.
State investigators said Carr and Marteney's selection of only a few misdemeanor cases in exchange for monetary donations constituted a "bribe." Both were charged in 2021 by the Investigative Panel of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board with multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The cases remain paused due to a federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.