Georgia Lawyer Who Used Profanity in Courtroom Draws Reprimand

A Georgia lawyer who cursed and failed to follow court instructions during his arraignment on criminal charges, including one count of family violence battery, should be publicly reprimanded, the state’s highest court said.

It also noted the attorney, Muhammad Abdul-Warit Abdur-Rahim, volunteered for discipline.

Abdur-Rahim was “disrespectful and disruptive” during his criminal proceeding in 2018 in violation of an ethics rule that forbids lawyers to “engage in conduct intended to disrupt a tribunal,” the Georgia Supreme Court said in a Monday ruling.

Abdur-Rahim was charged with third-degree cruelty to children and disorderly conduct in addition to the family violence charge after an altercation with his father months earlier, the court said. In determining the proper professional punishment, it noted several mitigating factors, including the lawyer’s claim that he was suffering from “personal and emotional problems” at the time of his arraignment for which he later sought and obtained treatment.

Abdur-Rahim also apologized to the judge and court staff involved in his arraignment; he freely and fully disclosed his wrongful conduct to and cooperated with the State Bar and State Disciplinary Board, and he’s remorseful for his misconduct, the high court said.

He has no prior disciplinary history, and his behavior at the arraignment appears to have been an isolated incident, it added.

After deciding a review board reprimand was in order, the court said in a footnote that the punishment only applies to the “misconduct that occurred at the arraignment.” Abdur-Rahim’s acts leading to the criminal charges could result in further discipline, it said.

The case is In the Matter of Abdur-Rahim, 2020 BL 126641, Ga., S20Y0209., 4/6/20.