CASPER (WNE) — A decision on disbarment for a Teton County prosecutor who violated seven rules of professional conduct has been pending in the Wyoming Supreme Court for more than seven months. 

A Wyoming State Bar tribunal recommended Becket Hinckley be disbarred following a week-long hearing in May. The recommendation related to Hinckley’s conduct during a 2015 trial in which Josh Black was sentenced to life in prison on assault charges. 

A three-person Board of Professional Responsibility panel found that Hinckley had knowingly lied in court, failed to secure certain records in the case, disobeyed direct orders from a judge, made inappropriate comments during the trial and failed to follow up on warrants and preservation letters with law enforcement. 

Bar counsel Mark Gifford said the state’s highest court typically rules on disbarment decisions (though they are relatively rare) within three months. Gifford said that only once in roughly the last decade has the court disagreed with a recommendation for disbarment. 

Chief Justice Kate Fox said last week that the high court is still considering the matter. 

“As with every other case before us, the Supreme Court takes the time necessary to review the record, research the law, and issue a well-reasoned an opinion,” Fox said in an email.