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resided there ever since. Petitioner never became licensed to
practice law in California.
In 1980, the Florida Bar filed charges against petitioner
for conduct occurring during 1976. The crux of the Florida Bar’s
allegations was that petitioner acted as “an undercover agent for
the Church of Scientology * * * [and] used his position as a
member of The Florida Bar for purposes contrary to the interests
of his clients and to his oath as an attorney and to the Code of
Professional Responsibility.” The Florida Bar v. Vannier, 498
So. 2d 896, 897 (Fla. 1986).
In 1983, petitioner applied for admission to the California
Bar. During 1984, petitioner sat for and passed the California
Bar exam. As part of the application to the California Bar,
petitioner was required to undergo a moral character review
conducted by the California Committee of Bar Examiners (the
Committee). By this time, the Florida Bar had not yet taken
action on the 1980 bar charges. Consequently, the Committee
refused to make a determination on petitioner’s moral character
until the Florida Bar resolved those charges. The Committee,
therefore, placed petitioner’s application on hold.
During 1986, a disciplinary proceeding took place to rule on
the merits of the Florida Bar’s 1980 charges. The referee
overseeing the disciplinary proceeding recommended that
petitioner be disbarred. On November 26, 1986, the Supreme Court
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