Disciplinary commission discloses false statement in urging ex-prosecutor’s disbarment

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A judge who recommended disbarment of the former Johnson County prosecutor for domestic violence has amended her report to the Indiana Supreme Court after being notified by a disciplinary commission attorney that he provided a false statement concerning key evidence.

Jackson Superior Judge AmyMarie Travis on Monday filed an amended hearing officer’s report that continues to recommend disbarment for ex-prosecutor Bradley Cooper, who was removed from office after he pleaded guilty in July 2019 to felony counts of criminal confinement, identity deception and official misconduct, as well as a misdemeanor count of domestic battery. The hearing officer’s amended report in Cooper’s attorney discipline case also strips some egregious elements of the aggravating factors against him.

At issue is the date of a photo submitted under seal showing injuries suffered by Cooper’s girlfriend and how the commission characterized that evidence. Commission attorney David Griffith disclosed to Travis a false statement about that evidence — specifically, his assertion that the photo of Cooper’s victim was taken 24 days after Cooper assaulted her. The photo actually had been taken the day Cooper battered her outside his Trafalgar home.

Griffith “inadvertently, though inexcusably, relied on the March 28, 2019 date that appears on the photos to argue that this was the date the photos were taken,” he wrote in an Oct. 1 filing, noting the date the photo was taken was in fact the date of the incident, March 4, 2019.

As a result of Griffith’s filing, Travis subsequently struck portions of her report that had adopted elements of Griffith’s recommendations, including his characterizations that “Although these photos were taken on March 28, 2019, twenty-four days after the incident, the injuries … are readily apparent,” and that the victim had been battered “… so severely that her injuries were obvious more than three weeks after the incident.”

Travis’ amended complaint removes such references but underscored the severity of Cooper’s attack that she says nevertheless warrants his disbarment. After deleting references in her report to when the photo was taken, Travis’ revised complaint now reads, “The significant nature of (Cooper’s) attack … is obvious from the three photos. … The domestic battery, to which (Cooper) pled guilty, resulted in significant swelling and bruising to the eye, cheek, and lips/mouth of the victim, which exacerbates the serious nature of his misconduct.”

Griffith offered his “sincere apology for this mistake and the additional burden it places on the Hearing Officer and on opposing counsel.” Attorneys for Cooper in his discipline case, James Bell and Stephanie Grass of Paganelli Law, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment Thursday.

Griffith disclosed the discrepancy in a filing titled “Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 3.3 Notice of False Statement to Hearing Officer.” He said in the filing that while out of the office and reading Travis’ report, he “began to think about whether the photos … were actually taken on March 28, 2019, or whether they were taken on some other date.”

He said he then conferred with investigators who confirmed the photos had been taken on the date of the incident, prompting him to submit the notice of false statement.

Travis’ report is not binding on the Supreme Court, which will decide the sanction for Cooper, who remains indefinitely suspended. The report does carry significant weight, though, because the court appointed her to hear evidence presented by the commission and Cooper’s counsel.

The case is In the Matter of: Bradley D. Cooper, 19S-DI-418.

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