State Bar of Arizona targets another conservative attorney

After serving honorably in the Marines, conservative Vladimir Gagic merely wanted to enjoy a second phase of his career as a criminal defense attorney. He practiced law for over 20 years without a blemish, no discipline. But he smelled a rat handling a case the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office – now run by establishment RINOs – apparently wanted to score a victory on, seemingly at all costs.

Gagic had a contract with Maricopa County to represent criminal defendants. He was assigned to represent Jamaal Pennington a few years ago, who was charged with sex trafficking of two minor victims and sexual contact with a minor. Gagic became concerned about the prosecution when he could not find any corroboration of the accusations and thought it was all being made up in revenge.

An independent witness named in police reports, Kimberly Dickinson, identified another man, street name “Stacks,” and a second man, “little Stacks,” as the actual traffickers. She told police she knew Stacks was the trafficker because he was her trafficker as well, and she had seen the two girls with him. When police asked Dickinson about Pennington, she said she’d never heard that name and could not identify him from a photo line-up.

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Gagic attempted to obtain an interview with Dickinson, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office would not arrange one, and eventually claimed they lost contact with her. Gagic’s investigator finally found Dickinson. She said the case agent had been keeping regular tabs on her, giving her money, and “helping her remember,” and “coaching her,” Gagic described. He kept screenshots of Facebook Messenger conversations between Dickinson and the case agent where the agent referred to Gagic and his investigator, “They are shady like the traffickers.”

Gagic filed many motions requesting evidentiary hearings to prove his client’s innocence before trial. Not a single motion was set for evidentiary hearing or oral argument. The only motion the court set for hearing was the state’s motion to get rid of Gagic as defense counsel for alleged sexism.

The case was transferred to Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Justin Beresky, who has served on the State Bar of Arizona’s Professionalism Committee since 2015. He filed a bar complaint against Gagic.

At first, the Bar told Gagic he was eligible for diversion – where he would receive no official discipline and nothing would show up on his record – because the allegations were not serious and did not involve dishonesty.

But then Bar counsel mysteriously changed their minds. Instead of providing Gagic with a trial on the merits, as previously disciplined attorneys receive, the Bar imposed a one-year suspension on him without giving him due process – no opportunity to defend himself. He was found guilty of the usual vague, broad ethics rules typically applied to target conservative attorneys: “engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice,” “engage in conduct likely to disrupt a tribunal” and “make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge.”

That last one is frequently criticized for intruding on the First Amendment right of attorneys. The Bar and disciplinary judge piled on, also finding him guilty of a similar vague, broad rule of the Arizona Supreme Court, “engaging in unprofessional conduct.”

Not a single rule he was convicted of had any substance. They piled on bogus aggravating factors, including “frivolous counterclaim for fraud and numerous meritless motions,” “refusal to acknowledge wrongful nature of conduct” and “substantial experience in the practice of law.”

His one-year suspension is up, but he believes he will not be allowed back into the Bar due to the corruption he has seen with other conservative attorneys who are only supposedly temporarily suspended (including myself). The Bar comes up with some excuse not to let them back in, such as not showing remorse or requiring them to pay such a steep amount it’s impossible to come up with the money.

However, Bar counsel Kelly Goldstein admitted in writing, “[T]he information Respondent has provided does establish that he had evidence to support some of the instances in which he accused opposing counsel [deputy county attorney Lacey Fisher] of lying.” Fisher was later promoted to commissioner and a teaching position at ASU Law School.

Tellingly, the order against Gagic cannot be found anywhere. He is given the runaround when he asks. Obviously, the Bar doesn’t want the public to be able to read how poorly reasoned the opinion was.

Pastor Andre Miller of the NAACP personally spoke with Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and requested an “Integrity review” of the case last November due to his concerns.

The State Bar of Arizona is considered one of the most corrupt state bars in the country, having started targeting conservative attorneys several years ago. The Bar is currently going after Kari Lake’s election attorneys, and together with a complicit disciplinary judge and panel suspended the license of a longtime Maricopa County prosecutor for prosecuting Antifa.

In contrast, attorneys like Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre, who was arrested for a Super Extreme DUI, blowing a .210 BAC, was given diversion. No discipline shows up for him on the Bar’s website, and he retained his job. McIntyre threatened to prosecute county supervisors concerned about election wrongdoing.

Mitchell, who made things worse for Lake’s attorneys by twice representing the corrupt Maricopa County supervisors asking for sanctions against them, was in office while much of the witch hunt against Gagic took place. Even the Arizona Supreme Court, which hasn’t shown much of a backbone on election integrity, issued a unanimous decision in May holding that attorneys who bring election lawsuits should not be disciplined.

Gagic, a diehard Trump supporter, believes Mitchell’s fiance has been harassing him on X. Conservative Gina Godbehere unsuccessfully challenged Mitchell in the Republican primary this year. Unfortunately, Mitchell sent out campaign mailers calling herself “conservative” and had the support of wealthy GOP RINOs.

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