Prosecutor with DUI convictions faces losing law license
A former prosecutor is on the verge of losing his law
license for two years for multiple drunk driving convictions and trying to use his
position to avoid arrest.
On Feb. 13, the State Bar Court recommended that Marc
Anthony Guillory [bar # 214098] be
suspended for two years for three misdemeanor convictions for driving under the
influence and a fourth for driving recklessly with alcohol in his system. A
former assistant district attorney with the San Bernardino and San Francisco
district attorneys’ offices, Guillory prosecuted and settled more than 100 DUI
cases. His suspension does not go into effect until it is approved by the
California Supreme Court.
In her decision, Judge Pat McElroy said Guillory showed flagrant
disregard for the safety of others” each time he drove while intoxicated.
“As a former DA, who prosecuted DUIs, respondent is well
aware of the wide swath of death, pain, grief and untold physical and emotional
injury that the drunk driver cuts across the roads of California and the rest
of this country,” McElroy wrote. “The monstrous proportions of the problem have
been lamented in graphic terms by the courts.”
Although statistics are not
available on how many attorneys who are disciplined by the State Bar have
substance abuse problems, experience has shown that the two issues are often linked, said Richard
Carlton, acting director of the State Bar’s Lawyer
Assistance Program.
Lawyers dealing with substance
abuse, stress and other issues can seek help through the program, he said. For
more information, watch a video
overview of the program or call 877-527-4435.
Guillory’s offenses date back to 1999, before he became a
lawyer, when he was behind the wheel in an alcohol-related crash that killed
his first cousin. Guillory and his cousin were leaving a party at night when
Guillory struck a bus that had broken down in the lane in front of him.
Guillory was taken to the police station where, more than two hours after the
crash, his blood-alcohol content measured .06. He pleaded no contest to driving
recklessly with alcohol in his system.
Admitted to the practice of law in 2001, Guillory was pulled
over for traffic violations in December 2007, when an officer suspected he was
under the influence. When asked for his driver’s license, Guillory gave the
officer his assistant district attorney’s identification badge instead. He was
found to have a blood alcohol level of .18 – more than twice the legal limit –
and was convicted of misdemeanor drunken driving in February 2008.
Guillory was still on probation when he was again arrested
for driving under the influence on Dec. 30, 2009. When the officer asked
Guillory for his driver’s license, he again presented his assistant district
attorney’s badge. Guillory, who had a blood alcohol level of .15, pleaded no
contest on March 23, 2010 to driving under the influence with a prior
conviction.
Guillory’s fourth conviction resulted from a Dec. 24, 2011
incident in which he was found passed out in his car at a traffic intersection
with the engine running and his foot on the brake pedal. The following year, he
pleaded no contest to driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content
of .08 or higher.
In suspending Guillory, McElroy rejected his argument that
his drinking was situational, brought on by stressors that included divorce and
the death of his grandparents.
“Until respondent learns why he turned to alcohol as a
coping mechanism when he went through an extremely stressful period and learns
how to avoid repeating that behavior in the future, he is certainly capable of
putting himself and others at risk,” she wrote.