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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
NO. 96-B-1401 IN RE: ERNEST L. CAULFIELD DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS KIMBALL, Justice*
Respondent Ernest L. Caulfield was formally charged with engaging in misconduct contrary to Rules of Professional Conduct 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, and 8.4 (a) (b) (c) and (d). It is alleged that Respondent and Alfred Miller staged a fake automobile accident in New Orleans on August 22, 1987 for the purpose of defrauding Hertz Corporation and its insurer by means involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation. Respondent claims the charges against him should be dismissed based upon: (1) the Disciplinary Board's application of the manifest error rule to the conclusions reached by the Hearing Committee; (2) the weight attributed by the Hearing Committee and Disciplinary Board to the evidence presented at the civil RICO trial concerning this accident; and (3) the failure of the evidence presented to the Hearing Committee and Disciplinary Board to meet the clear and convincing standard.

FACTS On August 22, 1987, Respondent and Alfred Miller reported to the New Orleans Police Department that a car operated by Miller and owned and insured by the Hertz Corporation collided with the rear of a car owned and operated by Respondent near the railroad overpass on Gentilly Boulevard. Alfred Miller told the investigating police officer that he was driving very fast and that he struck Respondent's car because he was temporarily blinded by the sunlight when he came out from under the railroad trestle. According to Miller, he was in a hurry to reach his girlfriend's house because his girlfriend's child was ill. The investigating officer recognized Respondent as an attorney and recognized Miller as a former employee of the police department and as a RTA bus driver. According to the investigating officer, neither Respondent nor Miller indicated that they knew each other at the scene of the accident. Out of curiosity and because the officer recognized both men, he

*

Johnson, J., not on panel. See Rule IV, Part 2,

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