People v. Joseph Lester Fredenburg. 21PDJ088. April 15, 2022.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ stipulation to discipline and suspended Joseph Lester Fredenburg (attorney registration number 55463) for six months. The suspension took effect April 15, 2022.
On November 17, 2021, Fredenburg pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree— strangulation, a class-four felony, pursuant to a deferred judgment and sentence. He also pleaded guilty to harassment as an act of domestic violence, a class-three misdemeanor. The pleas were based on the report of a man who told law enforcement that he believed he saw Fredenburg choking Fredenburg’s then-girlfriend. When the man intervened and pulled Fredenburg from the woman, Fredenburg pushed him against a wall. Fredenburg then wrapped his hands around the man’s neck for five seconds, strangling the man, who stated, “If I don’t get help, I’m going to pass out.” The man said that he could feel Fredenburg’s thumbs press into his esophagus.
Through this conduct, Fredenburg violated Colo. RPC 8.4(b) (providing that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects).
The case file is public per C.R.C.P. 242.41(a)(2).