28 February 2007

Sometimes Passing a Bar Exam on Your 19th Try Isn't Enough

Especially if you got caught cheating somewhere around try 6 or 7:
[During the Bar Exam] Bedi left the examination room to use the restroom and signed a list to that effect. Fagan stated that after a few minutes, Dix sent him into the restroom to see what was keeping Bedi. Fagan said that after he entered the restroom, he heard clipping sounds, similar to a stapler being used. He said that he could see through the crack between the stall door and its frame that Bedi was shifting papers about the size of an index card back and forth. He testified that the paper he saw was not toilet paper. He reported that the “clicking” noise continued intermittently for a short period of time. Fagan reported his observations to Dix. Dix testified that he entered the restroom and heard clipping noises. Dix testified that he saw through the mirror and directly, that Bedi was shuffling papers back and forth with dark lettering on them. Dix said that Bedi had something black in his right hand. Dix described the crack between the door and the frame as “a good sized gap” through which he could see. According to Dix, the stapling noises continued the entire few minutes that he was looking.

After making these observations, Fagan heard Bedi come out of the stall after the toilet flushed. Fagan asked Bedi for his notes, but Bedi claimed he had none. According to Fagan, Bedi claimed that he was taking medication for dyslexia. Fagan asked for the medicine bottle or a prescription, neither of which Bedi could produce. Another proctor asked Bedi to empty his back pockets, untuck his shirt, roll down his socks, and lift his pants legs. Dix testified that in his back pocket, Bedi had “a pair of little black scissors about five or six inches long.” Bedi told Dix that he had a “bad nail” and that he needed the scissors to trim it. However, Dix testified that he saw Bedi holding the scissors in his right hand, the same hand on which he claimed to have the bad nail. No papers were found on Bedi’s person, and no notes could be found after a thorough search. Bedi was allowed to finish the exam, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
Link via The Legal Reader.

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