HARRISBURG — St. Marys attorney Christopher Martini has been publicly reprimanded by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
The reprimand was for his conduct in two matters, representation of a client identified only as BM, and of a client, William Brown, of Wellsville, N.Y., for a case in Potter County involving corruption of minors.
According to the public reprimand, administered by a three-member panel on July 20, the case involving BM began in April of 2021 when Martini was appointed to represent her in a criminal matter. Prior to the appointment, he had not met the female, nor had he had any contact with her.
Between April 28, 2021, and June 25, 2021, while representing her, Martini sent her Snapchat messages including “sexually explicit language” the reprimand read. Family members of hers discovered the messages and contacted Martini regarding the “inappropriate nature of the relationship.”
Yet Martini continued representing her until the Disciplinary Board stepped in, notifying him that a complaint had been made and asking his response to it, the reprimand read.
The second matter involved a Potter County criminal case in which William Carl Brown, now 67, had entered a no contest plea to corruption of minors. He was sentenced to 24 to 48 months of incarceration followed by 12 months of probation.
Martini entered a fee agreement with Brown to file a post-sentence motion and appeal to the state Superior Court. The reprimand stated that Martini filed a timely post-sentence motion, which was denied by the Potter County Court of Common Pleas. He then filed a notice of appeal to the state Superior Court and the motion explaining the matters on appeal, but failed to file a brief, causing the appeal to be dismissed.
The order dismissing the appeal noted that it had been dismissed twice, and reinstated on request by Martini with an admonition from the Superior Court that no more extensions would be granted. The order directed the prothonotary to refer Martini to the Disciplinary Board for the matter, the reprimand stated. However, Martini did not tell Brown that he was the reason the appeal was dismissed. When Brown learned of this, he requested a refund, which Martini did provide, the reprimand stated.
While the reprimand included no fines or suspensions, it did include the Disciplinary Board publicly sharing the allegations against Martini on its website www.padisciplinaryboard.org
