Attorney P. Michael DuPree of Charleston, SC; convict, drunk

The State of South Carolina presented P. Michael Dupree with a law license in 1988 after he graduated from the University of South Carolina Law School.

Disciplinary Counsel of the South Carolina Supreme Court found DuPree guilty of the following misconduct.

While on vacation in Utah, Dupree was a passenger in car that was pulled over by a Utah Highway Trooper David Wurtz who asked the driver for his license, registration, and proof of insurance.

Trooper Wurtz began to ask the driver whether he had been drinking. Dupree repeatedly interrupted and told the drive not to answer the trooper’s questions. Dupree told the trooper he was a lawyer and that the driver didn’t have to answer his questions.

The trooper called for backup. When the other troops arrived Wurtz asked the driver to exit the car. Dupree, who was obviously drunk, became belligerent, repeatedly used profanity, and refused to cooperate with the troopers' requests to calm down. Again Dupree told the troopers he was a lawyer. When the troopers told Dupree to exit the car so it could be towed, he refused and locked the doors every time the troopers unlocked them. Dupree continued to berate the troopers and call them derogatory names.

The troopers were required to use force to remove respondent from the car. One trooper deployed his TASER, but it didn’t function properly. When the troopers managed to remove respondent from the vehicle, respondent attacked the troopers. During the attack, respondent struck Trooper Wurtz in the mouth and bit him on the arm. Eventually, respondent was subdued and taken into custody. He was arrested and charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and public intoxication.

Subsequently, Dupree pled guilty to two counts of assault, one count of interference with a peace officer making a lawful arrest, and one count of failure to disclose identity, all misdemeanors.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the Patron Saints for Attorney Misfits sitting on the South Carolina Supreme Court punished DuPree by gifting him with a complimentary 9-month suspension of his law license.

As we speak (ca. February 2014), Dupree practices at 147 Wappoo Creek Drive in Charleston, South Carolina.