Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre, a Republican, was arrested for a Super Extreme DUI last January and pleaded guilty to Extreme DUI but has received no discipline from the State Bar of Arizona. He blew a .20 percent when arrested, more than two times the legal limit of .08 percent BAC. On Thursday, a concerned Arizona resident filed a bar complaint against him, just three days after State Representative Alexander Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) and Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller filed an election-related bar complaint against him.
An Extreme DUI, which is .15 BAC and higher. A Super Extreme DUI is driving with a BAC of .20 percent or higher.
Bryan Blehm, who has been involved with the Cochise County litigation over the election and is one of Kari Lake’s attorneys, told The Arizona Sun Times that “while attorneys generally don’t appear to be disciplined by state bars for regular DUIs, this isn’t a regular situation,”
“McIntyre was arrested for a Super Extreme DUI, and pleaded guilty to an Extreme DUI. He is the chief prosecuting attorney for Cochise County, responsible for prosecuting DUIs. Other prosecutors arrested for the same thing resign without even waiting for a conviction. Yet he pleaded guilty 9 months ago and there has been no discipline from the State Bar of Arizona, not even a reprimand. Meanwhile, the Arizona Bar is aggressively going after election attorneys to disbar them for representing MAGA candidates.”
The State Bar of Arizona is pursuing disciplinary charges against Blehm over his election lawsuits, and Blehm said he believes they will disbar him. He added, “Of course, he should be sanctioned by the bar for such egregious and unconscionable behavior. If I can be put on trial for speaking truth, he should be put on trial for risking the lives of members in the community he portends to represent.”
McIntyre (pictured above), an election fraud denier, pleaded guilty on February 16 in Sierra Vista Justice Court to the lower charge of Extreme DUI. Super Extreme DUI is the most serious type of misdemeanor, a class 1, carrying 45 days in jail and a 90-day driver’s license suspension. In contrast, an Extreme DUI has slightly lesser penalties, only 30 days in jail. McIntyre was required to serve only one day in jail, with nine days suspended.
McIntyre’s court record (J-0205-TR-2023000066) also shows a “failure to pay compliance issue,” “delinquent time payment contract,” and “criminal case delinquent contract notice requested” on August 15.
Rule 54 of the Arizona Supreme Court Rules for attorneys states that “[g]rounds for discipline of members” includes “conviction of a misdemeanor involving a serious crime or of any felony.” The definition of “serious crime” includes “moral turpitude.” Traditionally, DUIs aren’t treated as crimes of moral turpitude unless there are aggravating factors involved.
In California, which has ethics rules similar to Arizona’s, “The State Bar usually does not impose discipline for a ‘standard’ first-offense DUI. … However, they may impose discipline for a very high blood-alcohol level on the breath test or blood test.” Additionally, a DUI conviction — even just a low-level DUI — is considered grounds not to admit an applicant to the bar.
In Colorado, a real estate attorney was found to have violated ethics rules because his BAC level was “strikingly high.” The hearing board found, “Unlike many other misdemeanor offenses, then, drunk driving — at least with a BAC as elevated as was Respondent’s — signals a degree of callousness to the public and our body of criminal laws that casts doubt on a lawyer’s commitment to faithfully respect the welfare of others and the interests of the legal system. … When a person drives with a BAC as high as Respondent’s was on January 1, 2016, the person always risks injuring others.”
Colorado attorney Dan Eldon Miller blew a BAC level of .254 percent and pleaded guilty to a regular DUI. He was disciplined with a public censure. The hearing board concluded in its ruling, “The legal profession cannot ignore conduct representing this degree of indifference to fundamental legal obligations and to the public good.” The American Bar Association, which drafts ethics rules that are adopted by state bars, highlighted this case.
It is typical for prosecutors to resign after being arrested for DUIs. In Pennsylvania, an assistant district attorney resigned after being charged with a DUI. In Oklahoma, a district attorney for three counties resigned a week after being arrested for a DUI.
A study from the American Bar Association and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation found that one out of three licensed attorneys is a problem drinker. The State Bar of California began punishing attorneys for merely being “problem drinkers” in 1990. David Morgan, a journalist and publisher of the Cochise County Record, told The Sun Times, “His Cadillac was parked frequently near the rear door of Pockets Pool & Pub in Tucson.”
When the Cochise County Supervisors voted to conduct a hand count during the 2022 general election, McIntyre told them he refused to represent them as their counsel if they were sued or prosecuted, saying they would be personally liable.
After the Cochise County Supervisors voted not to certify the election, citing the irregularities that occurred, McIntyre threatened to prosecute them.
Last March, then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked McIntyre to conduct a felony criminal investigation of then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Hobbs had taken the entire electronic system used to collect online signatures for political candidates offline, making it very difficult for candidates to collect enough signatures in time to make the ballot. Nothing ever came of the investigation.
The bar complaint filed against McIntyre earlier this week alleged that he violated attorney-client privilege when informing opposing attorneys of the county’s intention to hand-count some of its 2022 election ballots.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Brian McIntyre” by Brian McIntyre.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre’s affiliation with the Republican Party.
