People v. Robert J. Johnson. 20PDJ035. June 30, 2020. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ conditional admission of misconduct and suspended Robert J. Johnson (attorney registration number 42058) for one year, with five months to be served and the remainder stayed upon the successful completion of a two-year period of probation, with conditions. The suspension takes effect August 1, 2020.
In a Douglas County Court case, Johnson pleaded guilty to third-degree assault as an act of domestic violence as part of an 18-month deferred judgment and sentence. The agreement requires supervised probation and completion of an alcohol and domestic violence evaluation. Johnson is currently in compliance with his criminal probation.
The criminal charges were premised on Johnson’s assault of his wife. In November 2019, Johnson and his wife got into an argument, which turned physical. Johnson grabbed his wife around the neck and pushed her back, causing her head to strike the wall. Their three-week-old child was in the immediate proximity at the time.
Johnson’s criminal conduct also constitutes a material breach of an October 2018 diversion agreement between Johnson and the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, which was based on Johnson’s guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol. As part of his sentence in that criminal case, he was ordered to complete 48 hours of useful public service, alcohol education and therapy, and two years of monitored probation.
Through this conduct, Johnson 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. 251.31.