ST. CROIX — Attorney Martial Webster Sr. has agreed to a public reprimand accepted by the Board on Professional Responsibility of the Virgin Islands Supreme Court for filing an affidavit with confidential information in violation of Supreme Court rules relating to professional conduct.
The Board on Professional Responsibility gave notice today of the public reprimand while outlining three Supreme Court rules Webster violated — Rules 211.2.1, 211.4.4, and 211.8.4(a).
Webster failed to exercise independent judgment in filing an affidavit prepared by his client, Stephanie Barnes, that included information he knew to be confidential; in filing an affidavit designed and intended by Barnes to embarrass and harm certain individuals referenced therein; and by violating the rules of professional conduct.
In an affidavit he signed on March 20, Webster noted the basis of the complaint against him was that he filed a motion for recusal/disqualification while representing Barnes in District Court case 3:19-CR-00047.
In that District Court case, the Office of the U.S. Attorney filed criminal charges against Violet Anne Golden and Stephanie Barnes in 2019. Golden served as chair of the Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission at the time. Barnes was a contractor of the CCC. Golden and Barnes, who were charged with various offenses stemming from an alleged ongoing conspiracy, were accused of wrongly appropriating $473,000 obtained from Divi Casino for purported back licensing fees under threat of closure for their own personal use.
Golden pleaded guilty to theft from programs receiving federal government funds in violation of the U.S. Code, and failure to file a tax return in violation of the VI Code. She was sentenced to two years in prison on August 13, 2020, followed by three years of supervised release.
Barnes was convicted of three federal and local criminal charges on December 23, 2021 following a three-week jury trial. She was convicted of federal criminal conspiracy, knowingly receiving embezzled or stolen funds from the VI government, and willfully filing a false tax return in 2016. She was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison on Dec. 8, 2023.
Webster admitted that he violated Rule 211.2.1 by failing to exercise his independent judgment in filing an affidavit prepared by Barnes that included confidential information that he and his client knew to be confidential. He admitted that he violated Rule 211.4.4(a) by filing an affidavit prepared by Barnes “as is,” without revision, editing, or redacting, which had the effect of embarrassing and burdening a third person. He noted his violations of both rules constitute violations of Rule 211.8.4(a), which indicates it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “violate or attempt to violate the rules of professional conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another.”
The affidavit Webster filed referenced a pending disciplinary complaint Barnes filed against a member of the Virgin Islands Bar. Pursuant to a Supreme Court rule relating to access to disciplinary information, Rule 207.13(a), disciplinary and disability proceedings and the official record in such matters are confidential prior to the hearing panel’s submission to the court of its final report, and except as otherwise prescribed in the rules.
Webster and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel entered into an agreement to consent to the discipline of a public reprimand that was accepted by the Board on Professional Responsibility and approved by the Supreme Court.
In accordance with Supreme Court Rule 207.14, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel shall publicly disseminate all information relating to this matter to the disciplinary enforcement agency in any jurisdiction in which Webster is admitted; the chief judicial officers of all courts of the territory; the chief judicial officers of all federal courts located in the territory, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court; any national data bank maintained for the purposes of reporting disciplinary action relating to lawyers, and the news media.
