JOSEPHINE PEPE

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Josephine Pepe, a WA legal practitioner, was convicted in the District Court of attempting to pervert the course of justice (s 143 Criminal Code) for using improper means to dissuade a potential prosecution witness (her own client) from giving evidence against her partner, and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months. She admitted the conduct amounted to unsatisfactory conduct. The State Administrative Tribunal held that the nature of the offence, committed in the course of her legal practice, was so fundamentally inimical to a practitioner's responsibilities that despite mitigating circumstances the only proper disposition was to transmit a report to the Supreme Court (Full Bench) recommending she be struck off, and ordered her to pay the Committee's costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct occurred in the course of her legal practice
• Improper means available partly by reason of her status as the witness's solicitor in other matters
• Offence strikes at the heart of justice
• She initiated attempts to contact the witness
• Tribunal rejected claim that her statements were borne of concern for the witness

Mitigating factors:

• Isolated event in ten years of practice
• Committed under significant emotional stress and in context of a violent relationship with the client
• Belief that the witness's statement was false
• Underlying personality vulnerabilities (psychiatric report of Dr Wu)
• Voluntarily ceased practice the day after conviction
• Positive character references attesting to honesty, professionalism and diligence