Disciplinary hearing officer recommends 60-day suspension in Curtis Hill groping case

The hearing officer who presided over a disciplinary case against Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill last year says that his behavior at a work-related party in Downtown Indianapolis amounted to battery and violated the rules of professional conduct, according to a brief filed Friday. She recommends that he be suspended for two months.

Myra Selby, a former Indiana Supreme Court justice, said Hill's conduct was "offensive, invasive, damaging and embarrassing" to four women who testified against Hill. She also said that Hill, as attorney general, used his state office staff and others to engage in a public campaign to defend himself and intimidate the women.

The women — three Democrats and one Republican — accused Hill, a Republican, of inappropriately touching them at an end-of-session gathering of legislative staffers at AJ's Lounge on March 14-15 in 2018.

State Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, statehouse staffers Samantha Lozano and Gabrielle Brock (her last name was McLemore at the time), and former statehouse employee Niki DaSilva testified under oath during an Oct. 21 disciplinary hearing that Hill’s behavior made them uncomfortable and feel violated.

Hill underwent four days of testimony and questioning at the Oct. 21-24 hearing, which was prompted by sexual battery charges filed by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.

A special prosecutor in October 2018 declined to pursue criminal charges, saying he did not believe he could prove Hill's intent in order to prove a crime occurred.

A complaint led to the disciplinary commission's inquiry into whether Hill violated the rules of professional conduct and should be sanctioned.

Efforts Friday afternoon to reach Hill's attorneys and his office for comment were unsuccessful. Hill previously denied behaving inappropriately toward the women.

“I touched no one in a lewd manner. I touched no one in an insolent manner,” Hill said while testifying during the disciplinary hearing. “I can’t help what someone perceives.”

An Indianapolis law firm representing Hill's four accusers in a separate sexual harassment lawsuit said in a statement Friday that the disciplinary case again confirmed and corroborated the women's credibility. The statement from JBJ Legal called Selby's 36-page report "thoughtful, well-reasoned and consistent with the evidence presented and Indiana law."

"We hope, at a minimum, the Indiana Supreme Court adopts this suggested discipline," the statement said. "Hill’s ethics as the state’s highest legal officer affect us all."

The disciplinary commission recommended to Selby in December that Hill's law license be suspended for at least two years.

In her report released Friday, Selby disagreed with the disciplinary commission on some matters.

Selby said the disciplinary commission failed to prove that Hill committed sexual battery. She found that Hill committed battery, a misdemeanor, by touching the women.

Selby also found that the commission failed to meet its burden of proof that Hill violated a discipline rule that requires lawyers to "promise to abstain from offensive personality."

Hill "seems to concede that his behavior at the party might have been boorish

or he might have offended some people," Selby said in her report. "However, behavior that might in fact offend someone is not necessarily equivalent to abstaining from offensive personality."

But Selby did say Hill violated rules of conduct that require attorneys to behave in a manner that upholds public esteem for the legal system.

Selby also said that when Hill was made aware of the allegations, he was more concerned with his political and professional reputation than addressing the alleged offenses.

The allegations were first made public in July 2018 by IndyStar, which obtained a leaked memo of an investigative report into the women's allegations that was authorized by the state's legislative leadership and prepared by a law firm.

In the months that followed, Hill held press conferences, issued press releases and drafted public opinion pieces to defend his image and cast doubt on the women's allegations. His efforts included the use of office employees, Selby noted.

"In responding to the allegations in his official capacity as the Indiana Attorney General," her report said, "(Hill) used his position to intimidate the four women who alleged misconduct, three of whom were young women in their early twenties at the onset of their careers."

Selby noted that Hill's attorneys have tried to suggest that the incident at AJ's reflects the "shifting social concerns around what is appropriate and inappropriate conduct at a work-related party." In a brief filed after the hearing, Hill's defense had said that in recent years physical contact between men and women has become a "fraught topic."

But Selby did not make a conclusion on this point, saying in the report that the case is not about changing social norms. She said the case is about specific charges that were brought by the commission.

Selby recommended to the Indiana Supreme Court that Hill be sanctioned with a 60 day suspension without automatic reinstatement.

Both sides have up to 30 days to file petitions for review of the hearing officer's report. If either party files a petition, the other party has 30 days to respond. The filing party then has 15 days to file a reply.

The Supreme Court will make the final decision.

Lawyers who specialize in attorney discipline and are familiar with the process told IndyStar in November that it's difficult to speculate on an outcome in the case because, for one, there has never really been a case quite like this, especially one involving someone in such an esteemed — and elected — legal position.

The court may be the ultimate authority, but attorneys said that how it rules will have much to do with Selby's recommendation. The court doesn't have to take Selby's thoughts into account, but historically, experts said, the court has shown deference to the hearing officer's opinion.

A suspension could result in someone acting as a temporary attorney general in Hill's place or in him stepping down. It's unclear what exactly would happen.

After resisting earlier calls from Republican leaders to step down in the wake of the allegations, Hill announced in mid-November that he plans to seek a second term in office.

Contact IndyStar reporter Crystal Hill at 317-444-6094 or cnhill@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @crysnhill.