VENTURA : Warrant Issued for Suspended Attorney

A warrant was issued Monday for a Ventura attorney who failed to show up for sentencing on a charge of practicing law without a valid license.

But Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath rescheduled sentencing for Friday and stayed execution of the bench warrant until then because Kenneth G. Makature called the court to say he had a “personal health problem.”

“That’s fine,” Makature said in a telephone interview when informed of the bench warrant. “I’m going to be there.”

In arguing for the warrant, Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said Makature had “a history of unusual excuses” for not showing up in court or for continuing his case.

Makature’s license was suspended in October after he failed to pay his $478 annual State Bar dues. He represented some clients in Superior Court after his license was suspended, prosecutors said. His license also was suspended on three separate occasions in the 1970s, according to Bar records.

He pleaded guilty to the felony charge in March.

In the interview, Makature, 55, said he was negotiating with the State Bar to keep his license despite the criminal conviction. But State Bar spokeswoman Susan Scott said Monday that no State Bar Court proceedings are scheduled until the criminal case is settled. Makature is currently suspended from practicing law.

The State Bar president said Monday that Makature’s license could be revoked because of the felony conviction.

“The State Bar and the State Bar Court would take into account the facts of the activity” before determining whether to revoke Makature’s license, said Los Angeles attorney Harvey Saferstein. “For the criminal system it makes a great deal of difference whether it’s a felony or misdemeanor, but for the State Bar Court it’s really a question of what conduct was involved.”