Lawyer suspended for fabricating documents and repeatedly lying to client, order says

A defense attorney based in Franklin County created fake court orders and made up allegations of dishonest testimony in an effort to mislead a client who was seeking to appeal a conviction of homicide by vehicle, according to an order from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granting disciplinary action. 

Bret Alison Beynon was suspended Friday from practicing law in Pennsylvania for a period of one year and one day, according to the order. She joined the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in filing the "joint petition in support of discipline on consent."  

Beynon, who was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in December 2002, represented Clinton Huntsman Jr., a Fannett Township man who was found guilty in April 2018 of homicide by vehicle while under the influence and two counts of DUI. He was sentenced to at least four years in state prison. 

As detailed in the order, Beynon took the proper steps to begin the appeal process with the Pennsylvania Superior Court that June but failed to file a required document by a deadline in November. 

From there, she repeatedly lied and took other steps to make Huntsman believe the appeal was proceeding, when in reality the Superior Court had dismissed it following the missed deadline. 

One of the first steps was accepting a $500 check from Huntsman's mother 10 days after missing the filing deadline. 

Huntsman's sentencing:Fannett Township man to serve 4-8 years behind bars for drunken crash that killed woman

At some point - it's not known exactly when - Beynon told Huntsman she had evidence that a prosecutor and a Pennsylvania State Police trooper had been dishonest during the trial. She said she provided it to the Franklin County district attorney and the president judge, and later said she gave it to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

Beynon said that on account of that alleged dishonest evidence, she filed motions to have him released from prison. She later claimed to have "four orders" from the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania directing his release. 

None of this was true, according to the Supreme Court's order. 

Additionally, Beynon gave Huntsman documents that appeared to be issued by the district court regarding his appeal and the conditions of his release from prison, but they were actually fabrications made "in order to deceive and mislead" Huntsman, according to the order. 

She also told Huntsman hearings were scheduled before the district court's chief judge, but those never existed. 

At some point in late 2019, Huntsman fired Beynon and retained another attorney. The new attorney filed paperwork to seek an appeal on Jan. 2, 2020, according to online court records. The appeal was discontinued late last year but was refiled this year. 

Beynon did return the $500 Huntsman's mother paid for the appeal, according to the order. 

An attorney listed for Beynon in the order did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. 

Huntsman was intoxicated and driving more than 100 mph when he crashed in the early morning hours of Dec. 5, 2015, leading to the death of his passenger, 48-year-old Kim Burdge of East Waterford. 

Huntsman is currently incarcerated at SCI-Somerset, according to the state's inmate locator. 

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.