Attorney in Racially Charged Court Battles Disbarred Over Misconduct
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NEW YORK — A lawyer involved in the Tawana Brawley case and other racially charged court battles has been disbarred after being found guilty of 66 instances of misconduct, including fee gouging and theft.
The state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division upheld 66 of 71 charges against C. Vernon Mason and prohibited him from practicing law.
The court scolded Mason for taking advantage mostly of low- or moderate-income clients who had come to him “because of his reputation in the community of the disadvantaged.”
Neither Mason nor his lawyer, Howard Benjamin, replied to requests for comment.
Among Mason’s better-known cases was his representation of Brawley, a black teen-ager who claimed she was kidnaped and raped by at least six white men in 1987.
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