Attorney Sentenced for License Violation

A former deputy city attorney for Ventura was sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail in what may be the state’s first felony conviction for practicing law without a license.

Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell said the case against Kenneth G. Makature, 55, was too serious to reduce it to a misdemeanor. The judge said he may reconsider if Makature does well on probation for the next three years.

Makature, who was Ventura’s deputy city attorney from 1981 to 1987, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of representing clients in court in September, while his license was suspended for failing to pay the annual $478 dues to the California Bar Assn.

It was the fourth time in Makature’s 28-year legal career that his license was suspended for failing to pay bar dues.

His license was reinstated Oct. 14 after he paid the dues, but the state bar has since suspended Makature again because of his criminal conviction.

Deputy Public Defender Neil B. Quinn, in arguments to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor, said he was unable to find another case in California in which an attorney became a felon for practicing law without a license.

Quinn told the judge that Makature’s personal problems caused him to experience “a paralysis of judgment” involving the payment of his dues.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew J. Hardy said Makature’s problems include substance abuse.

“If he doesn’t get help, he’ll never be able to get back a life that, at least at one time, was on the right track,” Hardy said.

Campbell noted that Makature lied to another Superior Court judge about his status to practice law and refused to take a breath test when he appeared to be intoxicated during one of his illegal court appearances.

Makature said he probably will appeal the felony conviction.