DECATUR, Ga. - The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred a Decatur lawyer on Oct. 14 after he pleaded guilty to stealing data from the DeKalb County Police Department to recruit personal injury clients.
What we know:
The state high court unanimously stripped William Taylor Payne of his law license on Oct. 14 following disciplinary action by the State Bar of Georgia.
Payne, who practiced at the Law Office of William T. Payne PC in Decatur, had been licensed to practice law in the state since 1977.
The disbarment follows a Sept. 2, 2025, Alford guilty plea in DeKalb County Superior Court to one felony count of violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
Prosecutors said Payne and three co-conspirators knowingly used stolen data valued at over $170,000 from the Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System in 2015 to solicit clients and make money.
The reporting system is the property of the DeKalb County Police Department.
Following the 2025 plea, Special Master Robert E. Wilson concluded Payne violated rules against felony convictions and failed to notify the State Bar of Georgia within the mandatory 60-day window.
Payne pointed to his lack of prior disciplinary history and submitted expressions of regret in his defense.
However, the court agreed with Wilson that aggravating factors warranted disbarment, noting Payne showed a dishonest motive and caused serious harm to the legal profession and the police department.
"The Special Master also determined that, until his post-hearing submission, Payne had not clearly accepted responsibility for his illegal conduct or expressed remorse, other than regret for suffering the consequences of his plea, and thus had refused to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his conduct," the high court wrote in its ruling.
What we don't know:
Court records do not identify the three co-conspirators involved in the scheme or specify if they face separate criminal charges.
Officials have also not disclosed how Payne and his associates physically accessed the police department's electronic accident reporting database.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from official court rulings from the Supreme Court of Georgia as well as State Bar of Georgia records.