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July 2011

NEW MEXICO  

Prostitute taped District Judge in act

By: Joe Vigil, KOB Eyewitness News 4; Danielle Flores, KOB.com

07-20-11 -- Albuquerque Police say District Court Judge Pat Murdoch is now facing charges of raping a prostitute in his own home. . . . According to a criminal complaint the prostitute recorded the incident on video. In the complaint the woman told authorities she exchanged money for sexual acts with Judge Murdoch approximately eight times. . . . The complaint also stated that the woman posted an ad on the website Backpage.com. She said the judge called her and they ended up at his house where he paid her $200.00 in exchange for sexual favors. . . . The woman told authorities the first time she was with the judge he wanted to perform oral sex on her, but she refused. The complaint stated that "...he forced himself on her to perform the oral sex." . . . The complaint also said the prostitute later secretly recorded another encounter on video where the judge again wanted to perform oral sex on her.

ILLINOIS  

Suspension Recommended for Lawyer Who Sought Secretary via ‘Adult Gig’ Craigslist Ad

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

07-18-11 -- A one-year suspension has been recommended for an Illinois sole practitioner who advertised for a secretary/legal assistant in an ad posted on the "adult gigs" section of Craigslist. . . . Samir Zia Chowhan also mishandled an immigration case while he was an associate at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick and Dym and did not participate fully in the disciplinary matter, thus demonstrating "a lack of concern for his professional fate and disrespect for the disciplinary process," says an Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission hearing panel in a written report issued Friday.

KANSAS  

Attorney Suspended For Emailing Penis Photos

By Jeff D. Gorman, Courthouse News Service

07-18-11 -- The Kansas Supreme Court suspended an attorney indefinitely for sending explicit photos to a police officer who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. . . . Cesar Alberto Baca was on his home computer in Missouri when he communicated in a chat room with someone he thought was a Colorado teenager. . . . Baca described himself as a 30-year-old in Colorado and used the online names "machavalia" and "krazeecock."

NEW YORK  

NY BigLaw Partner Resigns in Wake of Child Porn Charges

Brian Baxter, The American Lawyer

07-18-11 -- An Allen & Overy partner in New York resigned from the firm on Friday after federal prosecutors in New Jersey charged him with distributing child pornography. . . . Edward M. De Sear, 65, of Saddle River, N.J., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark on Thursday. He was released on $250,000 bond and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, according to a press release from the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office.

NEW JERSEY  

Attorney from Saddle River charged with distributing child pornography

By Peter J. Sampson, The Record Staff Writer

07-14-11 -- FBI agents arrested a 64-year-old lawyer Thursday on charges of distributing child pornography after executing a search warrant at his home in Saddle River on Thursday, authorities said. . . . Edward M. De Sear, a partner at the New York office of Allen & Overy, an international law firm, was charged with distributing at least three images of child pornography over a peer-to-peer file-sharing network on the Internet. . . . De Sear appeared in wrist and ankle shackles before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in federal court in Newark and was released on a $250,000 bond with electronic monitoring.

June 2011

VIRGINIA  

Ex-Arnold & Porter Lawyer Loses Law License After Child Porn Guilty Plea
By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

06-22-11 -- A former Arnold & Porter lawyer who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography has lost his law license. . . . The lawyer, Joshua Jesse Robert Gessler, had his Virginia law license revoked earlier this month, the Legal Profession Blog reports, citing a notice by the Virginia State Bar. . . . Gessler had been accused of paying a 15-year-old girl for sex and photographing the encounter. In March, he pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Connection Newspapers reported at the time. He was sentenced to three months in jail, Connection Newspapers reported in a later story

NEW YORK  

DA: NY BigLaw Associate Had 5,000 "Truly Sickening" Images of Violent Sexual Assaults on Kids

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal 

06-15-11 -- A Gibson Dunn & Crutcher associate accused of being part of a group that traded images of violent sexual assaults on children was arrested as part of a wide-ranging child pornography sweep yesterday by state and federal agencies. . . . Moshe Gerstein, 35, was among 26 people picked up in Manhattan who traded "truly sickening" images of child sexual assault, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said during an afternoon press conference. . . . There was no immediate comment from Gibson Dunn, where Mr. Gerstein (pictured) works in the firm's corporate transactions practice, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and private equity deals. . . . Mr. Vance said the defendants stockpiled images of brutal rapes and sexual assaults of tens of thousands of children, from infants to teenagers, and swapped them like others "trade baseball cards." . . . Mr. Gerstein was arrested on May 10 after a search of his Manhattan home on West 60th Street pursuant to a warrant by investigators from the district attorney's office and federal Homeland Security agents. They seized three computers and an external hard drive containing some 5,000 images of child sexual assault.

ILLINOIS  

Attorney charged with three counts of prostitution

Sun-Times Media Wire, Chicago Sun-Times   

06-10-11 -- A Sycamore attorney was charged with three counts of prostitution -- including one felony. . . . Reema Bajaj, 25, of Sycamore, was charged with three counts of prostitution, according to DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler. . . . Bajaj was charged with two misdemeanors and one felony because the alleged acts of prostitution happened within 1,000 feet of a school, Spangler said. . . . Authorities began looking into Bajaj after they discovered emails between her a man for the purposes for prostitution during an unrelated child pornography investigation involving someone else, Spangler said.

ILLINOIS  

Sycamore attorney faces prostitution charges

By Bill Braksick, Daily Chronicle 

06-01-11 -- Police say a Sycamore attorney arrested Tuesday on prostitution charges reportedly had been engaged in that activity for several years. . . . Reema N. Bajaj, 25, of the 100 block of Penny Lane in Sycamore, turned herself in to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office about 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, roughly three hours after a warrant was issued charging her with three counts of prostitution. . . . The three counts stem from two incidents – one Aug. 13 and the other May 10. Bond had been set at $5,000, and Bajaj posted the $500 necessary to be released from jail. . . . DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said Bajaj’s arrest followed an investigation into an unrelated case where detectives discovered emails sent between Bajaj, a suspect in an unrelated case and a DeKalb man. Spangler said the emails were explicit regarding the arrangements and led to two of the prostitution counts from Aug. 13.

May2011

KANSAS  

Prominent Kansas attorney pleads guilty to attempting to entice minor for sex

Bill Draper  Associated Press, The Republic

05-26-11 -- A former partner in the largest Kansas-based law firm and son of a former federal appeals court judge has pleaded guilty to attempting to entice what he thought was a minor for sex. . . . Samuel Logan, 46, of Kansas City, Mo., will spend at least 10 years in prison after agreeing to a plea bargain announced Wednesday. . . . Logan, a partner with Foulston Siefkin LLP whose office was in Overland Park, Kan., admitted that he began communicating with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl named "Stazie" last May in an Internet chatroom. . . . Federal prosecutors said he was in his office when he initiated the conversation and activated his webcam, allowing an agent with the Kansas attorney general's office who was posing as the girl to watch as he performed a sexual act.

OKLAHOMA  

Former Oklahoma judge faces charges in stalking case

The former Creek County judge, a convicted sex offender, has been charged on allegations that he stalked a Jenks woman and threatened to kill her if she called the police.

By Susan Hylton - Tulsa World Oklahoman

05-25-11 -- A former judge in Creek County has been charged on allegations that he stalked a Jenks woman and threatened to kill her if she called the police. . . . Donald Thompson, 64, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Creek County District Court to a misdemeanor charge of stalking. . . . “It’s unfortunate that it’s progressed this far,” Thompson’s attorney Rob Nigh said. “I’m confident that Judge Thompson will be vindicated.” . . . Thompson is accused of peeking in the window of Angela McClanahan-Fernandez’s residence on Feb. 25, resulting in an altercation between her boyfriend and Thompson.

MARYLAND   

Lawyer pleads guilty to child porn charges

Posted by Peter Hermann, Baltimore Sun (blog)

 05-24-11 -- An attorney from Rodgers Forge pleaded guilty today to child pornography charges and will be sentenced to 24 to 37 months in federal prison, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office has announced. . . . I had written about Joseph Patrick Redd in April after neighbors wondered why it took so long between the time the feds raided his house in March 2009 to the filing of criminal charges in April of this year. People wondered if authorities had left a potentially dangerous man in a neighborhood. . . . The answer was that Redd had been charged with downloading images of child pornography on the Internet, and not interacting with children. His case was deemed a low priority, compared to child predators, and it took a while for his computer and other evidence to be analyzed.

MINNESOTA

Disgraced attorney owes $15 million to teenager he raped

Article by: Abby Simons , Star Tribune

05-24-11 -- Aaron Biber's actions "intolerable," judge said. . . . Disgraced former attorney Aaron Biber, imprisoned for raping a 15-year-old friend of his son, has been ordered to pay $15 million to a trust in the teen's name for acts a judge deemed "utterly intolerable to the civilized community." . . . Hennepin County District Judge Denise Reilly ordered Biber, 48, formerly of Shoreview, to pay $10 million in punitive damages and $5 million for assault, battery and emotional distress inflicted on the teen, leading up to and including the October 2009 assault. . . . Attorney Michael Schwartz, trustee for the teen, said he and other attorneys will immediately work toward collecting on the civil judgment, which concluded a lawsuit brought by the boy and his family.

MARYLAND   

Magician-lawyer charged in cyber crime

Howard Kalin promised to bring boy a basketball

By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

05-23-11 -- A Baltimore lawyer and magician who owns a children's entertainment company in Maryland was arrested today on felony charges accusing him of traveling to Florida to have sex with a boy. . . . Howard Scott Kalin, 47, identified as the owner of "Funhouse Entertainment" in Baltimore, chatted online over a period of several months with Lake County sheriff's detectives posing as a 14-year-old boy and the boy's caregiver.

CALIFORNIA  

Lawyer Gets 9 Years for Propositioning "13-Year-Old" in Sex Sting

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal  

05-20-11 -- An attorney in the Los Angeles area was sentenced to nine years in state prison after being convicted of trying to arrange sex with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. . . . David Cohn, who worked at Kesluk & Silverstein, a labor and employment boutique in West Hollywood, Calif., was sentenced on May 13 in Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court. He also was ordered to pay $20,000 in fines and register for life as a sex offender. He lives in Woodland Hills, Calif. . . . Cohn was charged after exchanging messages on the Internet in 2007 with an FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.

ALABAMA  

Jury hung in former prosecutor's sex charge case

By Kevin Lee, Lagniappe

05-13-11 -- A mistrial was declared in the child sex trial of former Mobile County Assistant District Attorney Steve Giardini, indicted for enticing a child for sex and soliciting the production of child pornography, a pair of Class B felonies that carry sentencing parameters of 2 - 20 years each. . . . After two lurid days of evidence and testimony, the eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated five hours, re-entering once to hear charges re-read and another time to hear the bench instruct them to try harder. They were finally excused around 7 p.m. . . . The resolution culminated a saga that began in December 2008 when Giardini met 15-year-old "Diana Gautier" in an online chat session and struck up a relationship. Unknown to Giardini, "Diana" was actually an FBI agent in a sting operation designed to snare child sexual predators. In April 2009, the assistant D.A. resigned his prosecutor's job after agents searched his midtown Mobile home looking for material related to the case.

ILLINOIS  

Records: Terronez took girls on road trip

Dustin Lemmon The Quad-City Times

05-09-11 -- The road trip to Champaign, Ill., began with Jeff Terronez contacting one of the girls on Facebook and asking if she wanted a ride to Charleston, Ill. . . . In the message from June 19, Terronez said: “Hey (redacted) I’m going to Champaign July 15 and 16. If you want a ride to Charleston I can drop you off then pick you up on the way back. Let me know,” investigation reports state. Terronez was going to a conference. . . . The 19-year-old woman he contacted was a friend of the 17-year-old girl he admitted he provided alcohol to on Aug. 15 in East Moline’s Mitchell Park. Terronez, 39, the former Rock Island County State’s Attorney, pleaded guilty April 26 to a misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to a minor. . . . The Facebook records were obtained through an Illinois State Police search warrant in October. Police also obtained booking records from the Country Inn & Suites where Terronez and the females stayed. The reports note that Terronez used an address from the state of Washington and billed the hotel on his Rock Island County charge card. . . . The documents were among hundreds of records from the State Police investigation of Terronez. The records, which contained many redactions, were released Friday to the Quad-City Times and other local media outlets as a result of Freedom of Information Act requests.

MISSOURI  

Woman testifies against lawyer in I-55 sexual assault case

By Terry Hillig, STLtoday.com

05-05-11 -- A woman told a jury in court on Tuesday that she feared for her life when a man she met in St. Louis on the pretext of a job opportunity sexually assaulted her as they drove along Interstate 55 in Illinois. . . . The woman, now 28, of Carlinville, testified against Meanith Huon, a Chicago lawyer who is on trial on charges of unlawful restraint, criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse. . . . Defense attorney Mike Mettis said in an opening statement that the defense would show that "all of these sex acts were consensual," and that the woman had demanded $500 from his client or she would claim he raped her. . . . She told the court she had worked for several years in promotional marketing and answered an ad on Craigslist in June 2008, agreeing to meet Huon at a downtown St. Louis bar.

April 2011

WISCONSIN    

Former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz seeks dismissal of federal civil rights lawsuit

Attorney says text messages not enough evidence

Jim Collar, Post-Crescent staff writer

04-09-11 -- An attorney for former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz says "flirtatious text messages" are far from sufficient to support a crime victim's assertion that her constitutional rights were violated. . . . Robert Bellin, attorney for Kratz, filed a motion in U.S. District Court on Thursday seeking dismissal of the civil rights case filed against the former prosecutor. . . . Stephanie Van Groll filed the lawsuit after last year's public disclosure of sexually suggestive text messages she received from Kratz in 2009. Kratz was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend in a domestic abuse case when he sent the messages over a three-day period. In one of those texts, he called Van Groll a "tall, young, hot nymph." In another, he asked, "Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA?

PENNSYLVANIA  

Ex-judge ordered to undergo psychosexual evaluation

By Mari A. Schaefer, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer 

04-01-11 -- An ex-Delaware County judge who was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl will have to wait a little longer to learn if he will be allowed out on bail while his case is on appeal. . . . Gerald Liberace, 69, appeared by video from Chester County jail during Friday's bail hearing.

March 2011

PENNSYLVANIA  

Ongoing Investigation For Havertown Judge

Former Haverford District Justice Gerald C. Liberace was sentence for up to one year in jail for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.

By Anthony Leone | haverford.patch.com

03-29-11 -- A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said that there is an ongoing investigation into former Haverford District Justice Gerald C. Liberace, who was sentence Tuesday morning from six to 12 months at the Delaware County Correctional Facility for sexually abusing his then 12-year-old stepdaughter. . . . Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, said that he could not reveal any more information regarding the ongoing investigation into Liberace, but did confirm that the attorney general’s office is not finished with the case. . . . He did say that he was happy with the verdict. . . . “It sends a clear message that the attorney general and the courts will not tolerate that type of behavior,” he told the Haverford-Havertown Patch.

WISCONSIN    

Wis. Prosecutor accused of 'sexting' won't face charges

Jay Jackson (AP), todaysthv.com

03-28-11 -- The Wisconsin Justice Department says it won't file criminal charges against a former prosecutor accused of sending racy text messages to a domestic abuse victim. . . . Former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz resigned in October after The Associated Press reported he sent 30 text messages to a domestic abuse victim trying to strike up an affair while he prosecuted her ex-boyfriend on a strangulation charge.

WASHINGTON   

Yakima attorney makes bail on rape allegation

By Mark Morey, Yakima Herald-Republic

03-25-11 -- A Yakima attorney accused of raping a young girl multiple times was released Wednesday on $50,000 bail after making his first court appearance. . . . Aaron Dalan, 39, was jailed this week on suspicion of first-degree child rape after police investigated a report alleging that his sexual relationship with the girl began in 2006 and continued for approximately five years. . . . Dalan, who was admitted to the state bar association in 1997, has spent the past several years working for the Yakima County public defender's office.

TEXAS  

Williamson pays $375,000 to settle lawsuit against judge

Two former county employees accused a former Court-at-Law judge of harassing them.

By Claire Osborn, American-Statesman Staff

03-21-11 -- Williamson County has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle a federal lawsuit in which two former county employees accused a now-retired judge of sexually harassing them and yelling profanities at them over a three-month period in 2009. . . . Former court reporter Kimberly Lee and former court secretary Sharon McGuyer sued the county in November. Lee received $150,000 in the settlement, and McGuyer received $75,000. The settlement also covered their legal fees of $150,000. . . . Former Court-At-Law Judge Don Higginbotham , who was accused in the case and resigned in June, was back at the courthouse last week. He worked as a visiting judge for two days, said Connie Watson , a county spokeswoman. . . . Williamson County Commissioner Lisa Birkman said at a Commissioners Court meeting in early March that the settlement was not an "admission to any fault by the county." . . . "This is a very tough decision, and I've given it a lot of thought," she said.

IOWA  

Iowa attorney arrested after client complains

Associated Press, Chicago Tribune

03-20-11 -- An Ames attorney has turned himself in to police on a misdemeanor charge stemming from a client's complaint about inappropriate behavior. . . . Gerald Moothart, 47, was booked into the Story County jail Saturday and released later in the day for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, the Ames Tribune reported Sunday. . . . The client told police she hired Moothart in January 2010 to represent her in a driving under the influence case. According to court documents, the woman said Moothart made comments about her body during their meetings and, at a meeting in his office earlier this year, the woman was served four alcoholic drinks by Moothart and ended up on his lap on a couch. . . . She told police she doesn't know how she got into the compromising position or how she made it home, the court documents said.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Washington Lawyer Charged in Online Sex Case, Seducing Undercover Local Agents

By Jason Geary, The Ledger

03-10-11 -- Local prosecutors have filed charges against a lawyer from Washington, D.C., accusing him of attempting to seduce girls online. . . . Richard Donald Lieberman was arrested Thursday and faces six felony charges, according to the State Attorney's Office in Bartow. . . . Lieberman, 64, of Bethesda, Md., was held without bail in the Montgomery, Md., County Detention Center. He has a hearing today to determine whether he will waive extradition to Florida. . . . He is described in an affidavit as a lawyer with the firm of McCarthy, Sweeney & Harkaway in Washington, D.C., as well as an adjunct lecturer at the George Washington University Law School.

MAINE   

Maine Prosecutor to Serve 16 Years for Kiddie Porn

Courthouse News Service 

03-10-11 -- A former assistant attorney general in Maine was sentenced to 16 years in prison Thursday after being convicted on more than a dozen child pornography charges. . . . The chief federal judge in Bangor also sentenced James M. Cameron, Esq., to serve 10 years of supervised release when his 16-year sentence is up. . . . Before Cameron was indicted in February 2009, he was one of the top prosecutors for drug crimes in the Maine Attorney General's Office. . . . The U.S. Attorney's Office said they caught Cameron breaking child pornography laws over a 17-month period between July 2006 and December 2007. Cameron was convicted of using his home computer to upload child pornography images and videos to Yahoo photo albums.

GENERAL

Lawyer’s FOIA Request Reveals More Information About SEC’s Porn-Surfing Employees

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

03-09-11-- The Securities and Exchange Commission has responded to a lawyer’s freedom of information request with revelations that it counseled or disciplined porn-surfing employees at seven different locations. . . . The information was disclosed in response to a request by Denver lawyer Kevin Evans, who also sought the names of the disciplined employees, according to the Denver Post, 9News.com and TheDenverChannel.com. In December, a federal judge refused to release the employees' names, citing privacy concerns.

MAINE   

Prosecutor seeks long sentence for ex-AG on child porn charges

By Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News Staff  

03-08-11-- A federal prosecutor thinks the man who was Maine’s top drug prosecutor should be behind bars for at least 21 years. . . . The attorney for the former assistant attorney general believes his client should spend no more than five years in federal prison on child pornography charges. . . . How much time James M. Cameron, 48, of Hallowell serves will be decided Thursday by U.S. District Judge John Woodcock in federal court in Bangor. . . . On Aug. 23, Woodcock found Cameron guilty on 13 counts of sending, receiving and possessing child pornography in 2006 and 2007 after a jury-waived trial in U.S. District Court in Portland. Since then, Cameron has been held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail. . . . Sentencing memorandums filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone, who prosecuted the case, and Cameron’s attorney, Michael Cunniff of Portland, reach vastly different conclusions about what sentence Woodcock should impose.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Rep. Alcee Hastings Sued by Employee for Sexual Harassment: “Unwelcome Sexual Advances” and “Unwelcome Touching”

Hastings Allegedly Retaliated Against Victim for Complaining About Conduct

Hastings, a former federal judge, was impeached by the House and, after a trial, removed by the U.S. Senate from the bench in 1989 for bribery and perjury.

Judicial Watch Press Office 202-646-5172, ext 305

03-07-11-- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a lawsuit on March 7, 2011, against Florida Democrat Congressman Alcee Hastings on behalf of a female employee who was repeatedly subjected to “unwelcome sexual advances,” “unwelcome touching” and retaliation. The alleged harassment and retaliation began in 2008, when Hastings was Chairman of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Commission is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Also named is the Commission’s former staff director, Fred Turner. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on behalf of Commission employee Winsome Packer (Packer v. US Comm. On Security & Cooperation in Europe, and Hastings and Turner (CV No. 11-00485 D.D.C.))

MICHIGAN  

Former Holland attorney Carl Gabrielse won't be listed as sex offender

By Megan Schmidt, The Holland Sentinel

03-07-11 -- Former deputy city attorney Carl Gabrielse’s name will not appear on the sex-offender registry, after an Ottawa County judge on Monday agreed to remove a felony criminal sexual conduct charge from his record. . . . Gabrielse, 32, appeared in court to determine whether he had fulfilled the requirements set for him 11 months ago that would allow him to withdraw his guilty plea to that felony. . . . Judge Jon Hulsing agreed to dismiss the charge but, as per the plea agreement set last April, Gabrielse instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of gross indecency between a male and female. . . . A plea to this charge does not require Gabrielse to register as a sex offender, unlike the criminal-sexual conduct charge.

MISSOURI  

Former St. Louis prosecutor hit with $30 million civil verdict

By Robert Patrick • St. Louis Post-Dispatch

03-07-11 -- A former federal prosecutor serving a 65-year prison sentence for molesting five teenage boys has been ordered to pay two of those former victims $30 million, lawyers for the boys said Monday. . . . The civil suit, filed last year, said that Eric Tolen, 49, molested both boys from October 2006 - April 2007. One was forced to pay Tolen with sexual favor "I.O.U.s" for "cigarettes, food, illegal drugs and gifts," lawyers said. . . . The teens, identified by initials in court documents to protect their identities, were between 13 and 15 at the time and are now 19.

TEXAS  

Male Investigator Says Female Lawyer Sexually Assaulted Him

By Leigh Jones | The National Law Journal | New York Lawyer

03-07-11 -- A male former investigator at a Texas federal public defender office has sued a female supervising attorney for sexual harassment, claiming that she made him view pornography and sexually assaulted him. . . . Cesar Ehrenzweig, in a March 2 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleged that after he ended a three-year relationship with Marissa Perez-Garcia in 2006, she became "furious" when he began seeing another woman. Perez-Garcia is listed as the branch chief on the Web site of the Laredo division of the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Texas.

February 2011

COLORADO   

Montrose DA bound over for trial on sex charges

By Nancy Lofholm, Denver Post Staff Writer 

02-28-11 -- Former Montrose District Attorney Myrl Serra will stand trial in July on allegations of sexual misconduct involving three women who worked for him. . . . After a morning hearing, Chief Mesa District Judge David Bottger ruled that there was "certainly reasonable evidence" to bind Serra over for trial in spite of defense attorneys' attempts to show that one of his alleged victims had tried to initiate an affair with Serra and that she had changed her story over a six-month period. . . . That witness denied those allegations and testified during the preliminary hearing Friday that in April Serra called her into his office, unzipped his pants then grabbed her hand and forced her to touch his genitals. She testified that she backed out of the office with her eyes closed and immediately told a female coworker what had happened. She also took pictures of her reddened wrist with her cell phone.

FLORIDA  

Local Attorney Suspected of Drugs, Lewd Sexual Activity

First Coast News  

02-17-11 -- A local attorney has found himself in legal trouble. . . . Officers reported seeing William Jewell Sheppard, 69, participating in illegal activity while his car was parked in a secluded area at 2800 Franklin Street on Valentine's Day. . . . An officer claimed to have seen Sheppard sitting in the driver's seat with a woman straddling him. . . . The officer believed the pair was engaged in sexual activity, so he ordered Sheppard to exit the vehicle. Sheppard refused to get out of the vehicle and the officer said he had to physically remove Sheppard from the vehicle and place him in handcuffs. . . . The woman got out of the car and the officer explained that she gave him permission to search the vehicle. . . . Inside, the officer noted two marijuana cigarettes in the center console as well as a prescription bottle of Viagra in the glovebox.

IOWA  

Lawyer Caught in Courthouse Oral Sex With Substance Abusing, Suicidal Ex-Wife Client

By Leigh Jones | The National Law Journal | New York Lawyer

02-16-11 -- An Iowa lawyer caught having oral sex with a client in a courthouse library has received an 18-month suspension from practice. . . . The Supreme Court of Iowa on Feb. 11 suspended Clovis Bowles after it determined that he violated attorney ethics rules by having sex with a client and obstructing an investigation into the matter. Bowles represented the client in a custody battle for her three children. . . . "He breached the trust bestowed on members of the bar when he engaged in sex acts with a vulnerable client who sought his professional assistance in a matter of profound personal significance," the court wrote.

COLORADO   

Serra set for trial on sex complaint

By Katharhynn Heidelberg, Montrose Daily Press 

02-11-11 -- A judge found this morning that probable cause exists to support allegations that former district attorney Myrl Serra subjected a woman to forcible unlawful sexual contact. . . . At preliminary hearing today, his attorneys attempted to poke holes in the complaining witness' story, alleging - over her denials - that she tried to initiate an assignation with the former prosecutor, and had changed her statements. . . . The witness, who works in the DA's office, said that on April 16, 2010, Serra grabbed her hand, forced her to touch his penis, and used his other hand to touch her breast. She said she'd sent 63 text messages to Serra, related to asking him to let the office staff leave early that day, and that he sent more than 90 messages back to her before ordering her into his office where he allegedly abused her. Mesa County Judge David Bottger found the Colorado Attorney General's Office had established sufficient probable cause to support the charge, and Serra was set for trial starting July 18.

IOWA  

Former Waterloo attorney's license suspended for 18 months

By Jeff Reinitz, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier 

02-11-11 -- The Iowa Supreme Court has suspended the license of a former Waterloo attorney accused of having a sexual relationship with a client. . . . In a ruling issued Friday, the high court suspended Clovis Bowles' license for at least 18 months. . . . The punishment was less that the three years to five years that members of the Attorney Grievance Commission had recommended.

NEW MEXICO  

Attorney admits child-porn charge

Shirley once headed state utility commission

Web Producer: Bill Diven, KRQE

02-03-11 -- A former state utility regulator faces at least five years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to a federal child pornography charge. . . . As part of a plea agreement Wayne Shirley, 58, of Cedar Crest pleaded guilty to a single count of receipt of child pornography, according to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales. Chief U.S. Magistrate Richard Puglisi accepted the plea and ordered Shirley into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. . . . He faces a prison sentence of five to 25 years and a fine up to $250,000. He will be required to register as a sex offender after his release and will be subject to supervision possibly for the rest of his life.

NEW YORK  

Attorney suspended after conviction

By Carol Demare, Albany Times Union Staff Writer 

02-03-11 -- A former assistant public defender who was convicted of having sex with a client was suspended Thursday from the practice of law for one year. . . . Matthew J. Swedick, 38, was sentenced to a year in the Albany County jail by City Court Judge Thomas Keefe in December 2009, following his official misconduct conviction by a jury. . . . Swedick remains free on $10,000 bail while appealing the misdemeanor conviction to Albany County Court.

NORTH CAROLINA  

Former Person DA prohibited from practicing law

Reporter: Erin Hartness, Web Editor: Anne Johnson    WRAL.com - ‎

02-03-11 -- The former district attorney for Person and Caswell counties has been disbarred after pleading guilty last summer to inappropriately touching and kissing women. . . . Joel Brewer was disbarred by the Wake County Superior Court, Katherine Jean, general counsel for the North Carolina State Bar, said Thursday. He has surrendered his law license. . . . Brewer pleaded guilty last July to seven counts of assault on a female and one count each of impersonating a law enforcement officer and willfully failing to discharge duties. 

NEW YORK  

NY Juvenile Justice Worker Gets Prison for Molesting Girls at Courthouse

By The Associated Press, New York Lawyer

02-02-11 -- A former juvenile justice worker convicted of taking sexual advantage of underage girls he was supervising at a courthouse was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison, with a judge saying he exploited his job to prey on vulnerable victims. Tony Simmons declined to speak at his sentencing, where he got the maximum possible punishment for his conviction in a case that had sparked demonstrations by women's advocates. He had been poised to emerge with a probation-only plea deal until a judge rescinded the agreement in November amid criticism from the district attorney and an outcry from women's rights activists. . . . Jurors last month found Mr. Simmons guilty of committing a criminal sexual act and sexual abuse in encounters with two girls inside the Manhattan Family Court building, but they acquitted him of raping a third girl there. The girls, young offenders who were being held in juvenile facilities, were 15 and 16, under the age of sexual consent in New York. To Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman, the circumstances and Mr. Simmons' authority over them compounded his crime. "These complainants were young. They were vulnerable. They had come from backgrounds which had failed them in some ways," she said as she sentenced Mr. Simmons, 47. Mr. Simmons' lawyer, Gregory Watford, said he plans to appeal.

TENNESSEE  

Attorney says Godbee facing sixth sex complaint

By Jeff Bobo, Kingsport Times News 

02-02-11 -- Intimidation is the common denominator linking the Hawkins County women who have filed complaints accusing former prosecutor Doug Godbee of offering leniency in exchange for sex. . . . Five women filed complaints with the Tennessee Claims Commission this month, including four complaints that were filed Monday. . . . Nashville attorney Robert Whitaker, who filed the complaints on behalf of the women, said Tuesday a sixth complaint will be filed within a week. Whitaker said he expects more women to come forward if they realize they won’t face retribution in the criminal court system.

TEXAS  

Teen testifies against Comal attorney in sex case

By Roy Bragg, San Antonio Express

02-01-11 -- A 13-year-old testified Tuesday in state court that a local attorney tried to get her drunk and coax her into having sex, but defense lawyers countered that the girl is a habitual liar, prone to outlandish claims. . . . Mark A. Clark is charged with attempted aggravated sexual assault and attempted sexual performance of a child. . . . Clark, 56, invited her over to do chores, she testified, but instead offered her an alcoholic fruit drink, talked graphically about sex, and offered her $1,000 to pose in lingerie. Police said they found the alcohol she described and lingerie hidden in a secret office compartment.

January 2011

LOUISIANA   

Alexandria attorney Noland Hammond permanently disbarred for misconduct

By Billy Gunn • Alexandria Town Talk 

01-21-11 -- The Louisiana Supreme Court this week permanently disbarred Noland Hammond after determining the Alexandria attorney had many instances of inappropriate sexual contact with clients and practiced law after he was suspended. . . . "It is ordered that ... Noland James Hammond ... be stricken from the roll of attorneys and that his license to practice law in the state of Louisiana be revoked," the court said. . . . The court also ordered Hammond to pay back thousands of dollars in legal fees to clients. . . . Hammond ran for the state House District 26 seat in 1999 and 2003, both times losing to then-incumbent Israel "Bo" Curtis.

MINNESOTA   

Ex-prosecutor spared jail in 'Nice Guys' sex case

Wheelchair-bound John St. Marie, who procured women for sex, apologized in court. He needs constant health care, and the judge said "incarceration is out of the question."

By David Chanen, Minneapolis Star Tribune 

01-20-11 -- John St. Marie, a former assistant Hennepin County attorney, was about to be sentenced Thursday for promoting prostitution for a group of well-to-do clients who dubbed themselves "Minnesota Nice Guys." Fighting pneumonia and sitting in a wheelchair, as he has for years, he asked his attorney to read a statement. . . . St. Marie apologized to the judge for his weakness of character and to the prosecutor for putting her in an awkward spot. He apologized to his wife, his colleagues in Hennepin County and "other persons deserving of my apology." He never acknowledged the women victimized by his crime.

OHIO  

Lawyer in Hot Water for Photoshopping Child Porn

By Dan Mccue, Courthouse News Service  

01-20-11 -- An Ohio lawyer may be held liable for violating child pornography laws after he downloaded images of children from a stock photo website, and then edited them into pornography that he used when testifying as an expert witness at other child pornography trials, the 6th Circuit ruled Wednesday. . . . The expert witness at the center of the case is Dean Boland, of Lakewood, Ohio, a licensed attorney specializing in technology-related legal issues. He was called to testify in United States v. Shreck, an Oklahoma child pornography prosecution, in 2004 to bolster Shreck's claims that he may not necessarily have "knowingly" accessed child pornography because sophisticated computer-imaging technology has blurred the line between what is real and virtual. . . . In anticipation of the trial, Boland downloaded innocent-looking images of minors from the Internet and digitally manipulated the pictures to make it look like the children were engaging in sexually explicit acts. In one instance he took a photo of a 5-year-old girl eating a donut and replaced the donut with a penis; in another, he edited a 6-year-old girl's face onto another photo depicting the body of a nude woman performing sexual acts with two men. He then edited the woman's body to look like that of a young girl. . . . Boland used these images in the course of testifying as an expert witness in two Ohio state court criminal proceedings and presented them again during an evidentiary hearing for Shreck. / 6th Circuit's written opinion (PDF).

WISCONSIN    

Rhinelander lawyer's license suspended

WSAU

01-19-11 -- The state Supreme Court suspended a Rhinelander attorney’s law license for nearly five years Wednesday for having sex multiple times with a vulnerable client between 2001 and 2006. . . . The court imposed the four year, eight month suspension on Attorney Frederick Voss and ordered him to pay the full cost of the disciplinary proceeding against him, which is just over $145,000. Justices also banned Voss from having contact with the victim. . . . According to court documents, Voss had sex with the client multiple times between the summer of 2001 and July 30, 2006, while he was her attorney. The woman claimed that Voss picked her up the last time and forced her to have sex with him at a hotel. . . . The woman reported the sexual assault to police who referred Voss to prosecutors. They did not file criminal charges.

Read the Supreme Court's Decision: In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings Against Frederick J. Voss, Attorney at Law

Wisconsin asks to intervene in former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz case

By Jim Collar • Post-Crescent staff writer

01-19-11 -- The Wisconsin Department of Justice asked to intervene in a federal lawsuit against former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz in an effort to challenge any claims the state would bear financial responsibility because he was a state employee. . . . The DOJ filed a motion Tuesday in crime victim Stephanie Van Groll's civil rights lawsuit against the former prosecutor. Van Groll, 26, filed the lawsuit in October in Milwaukee's U.S. District Court. The civil complaint claims a series of sexually suggestive text messages she received from Kratz in 2009 violated her constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. . . . According to Tuesday's motion, Wisconsin has interests in the case including the right to challenge whether Kratz was acting within the scope of his employment, whether the state is responsible and whether Wisconsin would have to pay damages to Van Groll on behalf of Kratz should the case resolve in her favor.

WISCONSIN    

Former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz responds to civil lawsuit over sexting case

By Jim Collar • Post-Crescent staff writer

01-17-11 -- Former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz claims he’s immune from a civil lawsuit filed by a crime victim claiming sexual harassment because he was a public official at the time. . . . Kratz filed an answer Friday to the civil lawsuit filed in federal court by Stephanie Van Groll following last year’s public disclosure of sexually suggestive text messages she received from Kratz in 2009. . . . Van Groll, 26, filed the civil lawsuit in October in Milwaukee’s U.S. District Court. The civil complaint claims the series of text messages violated her constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. . . . Kratz in his answer denies “allegations attempting to interpret or mischaracterize” the text messages included in the complaint. The answer, drafted by Kratz’s attorney, Rob Bellin, also denies responsibility for any injuries the woman suffered as a result of her communications with Kratz.

GENERAL

JAG Lawyer Accused of KID Porn (and Maybe More)

By David Lat, Above the Law 

01-07-11 -- If we hadn’t already bestowed Lawyer of the Day honors on Angela West, the Harvard Law grad who maybe shouldn’t have had that extra espresso shot at Peet’s, we’d give them to Lieutenant Commander Mark Tilford. He’s an attorney for the Judge Advocate General’s Corps down in Corpus Christi, Texas. . . . One would expect a lawyer for the military — the Navy, no less — to be a paragon of virtue. But if the federal criminal charges against him are true, Lt. Cmdr. Tilford may have been more interested in probing than probity. . . . According to the Corpus Christi Caller Times, Tilford has been indicted on charges of receiving and distributing child pornography. And this might not be his first sex-related brush with the law. . . . Tilford, 43, is facing a nine-count indictment, alleging that he received and distributed child pornography from July to September 2010. The indictment, dated December 20, was unsealed after Tilford was arrested this past Wednesday at his home.

CALIFORNIA   

Lawyer charged with having sex with teens

From wire service reports, Contra Costa Times

01-06-11 -- A real estate attorney charged with having sex with two teenage girls was arrested this morning near his home in Irvine. . . . Matthew Christopher Tye, 31, faces multiple felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child, oral copulation of a minor, unlawful intercourse and trying to dissuade the two alleged victims from reporting a crime, Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown said. . . . An arrest warrant was issued sometime last week.

COLORADO   

Colo. District Attorney May Face Impeachment Over Sex Charges

The Associated Press, Law.com 

01-03-11 -- Colorado lawmakers may take up impeachment proceedings against a western Colorado prosecutor facing criminal charges of sexual misconduct. . . . Incoming state Rep. Don Coram of Montrose tells The (Grand Junction) Sentinel that he has taken steps to start impeachment proceedings when the Legislature convenes Jan. 12. . . . The Montrose County district Attorney, Myrl Serra, has refused to resign his elected office while he faces charges including extortion, indecent exposure, felony unlawful sexual contact and official misconduct. Because he's still in office, Serra is collecting his $120,000 annual salary, though an interim district attorney has been appointed.

December 2010

COLORADO   

Montrose DA Arrested for Second Time This Year

Serra Violates Bond Conditions

by Beverly Corbell, Telluride Watch  

12-24-10 -- Montrose District Attorney Myrl Serra was arrested — again — on Monday for violating conditions of his bail bond and a restraining order from an earlier arrest for felony sexual misconduct and other charges. . . . Serra was first arrested on Sept. 30 following an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation into alleged improper sexual contact with some of his employees. He faces charges of felony extortion, felony sexual contact with no consent, two misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, and three misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure. . . . His recent arrest stemmed from an encounter on Dec. 5 with one of his alleged victims in a department in Montrose. According to the arrest affidavit, the alleged victim spotted Serra coming into the store, so she “hunched down” behind a clothes rack in the men’s department, but Serra came over and stared at her for several seconds, she stated in the report. No words exchanged.

NEW YORK

The professor who (might have) loved his daughter (in the wrong way)

By Todd Pettigrew | Macleans.ca 

12-17-10 -- A prominent prof at Columbia is accused of incest. . . . Recently, Slate published an interesting piece about Professor David Epstein of Columbia University who has been charged with incest over an alleged affair with his own 24-year-old daughter. William Saletan, quite bravely in my view, raises the right question: if consenting adults are free to do whatever they like in the bedroom, why is incest wrong? After all, most people now acknowledge that it is not for the state or even society in general to make judgements about  people’s sexual preferences and choices. If you’re an adult, and it works for you, go for it. Right? . . . Still, for most people, incest raises an immediate, visceral loathing. The response may be an evolved revulsion. But that same revulsion may be felt by some who hate homosexuality and was likely felt at one time by racists looking at inter-racial couples. And even if there is a natural revulsion to incest, clearly that revulsion is not universal or we wouldn’t be having this argument. And even still, if doing disgusting things turns you on, why is that my business?

MASSACHUSETTS   

Former Chelsea court clerk sentenced for coercing women into sex

by Martin Finucane, Boston Globe         

12-16-10 -- A former Chelsea District Court clerk magistrate was sentenced today to two years in federal prison for coercing two women into having sex with him at the courthouse. . . . "He took my dignity,'' one of the victims told the judge just before James M. Burke, 43, of Chelsea, was sentenced. "He took advantage of me when I was in a vulnerable state in my life.'' . . . Burke, who was fired from his $84,000-a-year job after his arrest last year, was convicted by a federal jury in October of two counts of depriving the women of their civil rights. . . . One of the women testified at the trial that Burke pulled her from the courthouse lockup after her arrest on a prostitution charge in 2005 and brought her to an empty courtroom, where she performed sex on him in exchange for his promise to get her case dismissed. The case still went forward. The other woman said Burke threatened to lock her up last year unless she had sex with him at the courthouse.

NEW YORK

Shady lawyer Lou Posner disbarred after pleading guilty to running hooker ring out of strip joint

By Jose Martinez, Daily News Staff Writer 

12-16-10 -- First he lost his midtown jiggle joint. Now he's lost his bid to remain listed as a lawyer. . . . Shady lawyer Lou Posner, who pleaded guilty in March to selling sex out of his members-only lap dance club in Manhattan, Thursday was stricken from the state's roll of lawyers by a state appeals court. . . . The roly-poly pimp was automatically disbarred after pleading guilty in March to a felony charge of running a hooker ring out of the now-shuttered Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street. But Posner was challenging a push by the committee that disciplines lawyers to have him removed from the roll of lawyers. . . . Posner's claims were "unavailing," a panel of judges determined. . . . The notorious no-holds-barred strip club was shuttered in July 2008, following a raid that came months after a member sued the club when he took a stripper's heel to the eye during a bump-and-grind gone bad.

OREGON  

Oregon Prosecutor Pleads Guilty to Official Misconduct

Rand E. Overton prohibited from working as a government lawyer.

Salem-News.com

12-14-10 -- Attorney General John Kroger today announced the guilty plea and sentencing of a Lincoln County prosecutor for attempting to use his position to obtain sexual favors. . . . "Prosecutors wield great power, and any abuse of that power cannot be tolerated,” said Attorney General Kroger. "Government officials need to be held to the highest possible standards." . . . 59-year old Rand Eugene Overton, a Lincoln County deputy district attorney, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of Official Misconduct in the First Degree. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 2 years of probation and is prohibited from working as a government lawyer. . . . Overton was initially charged in May based on a single victim. Once the charges became public, two additional victims came forward.

GENERAL

Judge Refuses to Release Names of SEC Lawyers Who Viewed Porn at Work

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal 

12-10-10 -- The identity of the Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer who spent up to eight hours of day watching pornography at work will remain a secret under a federal judge’s ruling. . . . U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello turned down a Denver lawyer’s request for the names of porn-watching SEC employees, citing privacy concerns, the Denver Post reports. "The court concludes that the public interest in the individuals' names is negligible, at best," Arguello wrote.

CALIFORNIA

Jailhouse Sex Merits Disbarment, Top Calif. Court Says

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal 

12-07-10 -- A California lawyer's claim that jailhouse sex was consensual and lasted no more than "an hour's total duration" shows he still doesn't get it and should be disbarred, a state bar court judge held and the state supreme court agreed. . . . In an order last week it held that Patrick Earl Marshall, 63, will be disbarred effective Jan. 1, reports the State Bar of California. . . . Marshall, who had sex with two incarcerated female clients at the San Benito County Jail while he was working as a contract public defender, failed to recognize that it is impossible for a client in this situation to consent to sex, according to an opinion by State Bar Court Judge Lucy Armendariz. . . . Likewise, "having improper sexual relations with a client breaches the basic notions of trust and integrity and endangers public confidence in the legal profession, irrespective of its duration."

MINNESOTA   

Ex-Twin Cities attorney disbarred over sex charge

Associated Press, KARE-TV

12-07-10 -- The Minnesota Supreme Court has disbarred a once-prominent Twin Cities attorney who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old boy. . . . The court filed an order Friday disbarring Aaron Biber (BY-bur). KARE-TV reports Biber agreed to the disbarment on Nov. 20.

WISCONSIN    

Wis. Governor Appoints Replacement for Sexting DA

Wisconsin governor appoints prosecutor who was sexual assault victim to replace sexting DA

By Scott Bauer Associated Press, ABC News

12-03-10 -- A female prosecutor who was once the victim of sexual assault was named Friday to replace a district attorney who resigned in disgrace after trying to strike up a relationship with a domestic violence victim. . . . Gov. Jim Doyle said his appointment of Jerilyn Dietz as Calumet County district attorney will restore the community's faith in the office and ensure crime victims have a strong advocate. She replaces Ken Kratz, who resigned in October after Doyle started the process to force him out. . . . Kratz admitted sending suggestive text messages to Stephanie Van Groll while he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend. At least four other women have said Kratz, who was district attorney for 18 years, made inappropriate sexual advances toward them. . . . Dietz, who has been the assistant district attorney in nearby Manitowoc County since 2005, said she felt a calling to succeed Kratz.

Kenneth Kratz, the sexting DA, gets no love from government lawyers

By Erin Carlyle, Minneapolis City Pages (blog)  

12-02-10 -- Kenneth Kratz thought it would be cool to use his position of power as a Wisconsin district attorney to try to get some love. You know, the kind of love with a 26-year-old "tall, young, hot nymph" that makes a married, 50-year-old guy with a bad mustache feel like a big man. . . . He's in a world of trouble now, and he just found out that government lawyers aren't going to ride to his rescue. . . . Domestic abuse victim Stephanie Van Groll, whose ex-boyfriend nearly choked her to death, met Kratz when he was assigned to prosecute her ex. In their first meeting, Kratz asked her if she minded if he reduced the charges from a felony to a misdemeanor. Then the sexually-charged texting began.

November 2010

ILLINOIS  

State panel adds to sexual harassment complaints against Chicago attorney

By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune reporter

11-26-10 -- A partner at a Chicago class-action law firm has been accused by the state agency that disciplines attorneys of sexually harassing four female employees and exposing himself to two other women. . . . Paul M. Weiss is accused of groping, making sexually harassing phone calls and other sexual misbehavior that includes assault, battery and unlawful restraint. Three of the alleged victims were legal assistants and another was an attorney who was fired in 2002 after she complained, according to a complaint filed by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission in 2008. . . . The commission first leveled the allegations in 2008, but an amended complaint made public this week alleges Weis sexually harassed and groped another female employee, once taking off his pants during a meeting with her. When the woman quit, the complaint said, Weiss told her they could now have sex because he wasn't her boss.

ILLINOIS  

Lakin sex accusation still investigated, prosecutor says

By Nicholas J.C. Pistor • STLtoday.com

11-24-10 -- After a 15-year-old boy accused one of Metro East's most powerful political figures of arranging to watch him have sex with women and then engaging him in a sex act, a state prosecutor vowed a swift investigation. . . . Four years later, the promise remains, but the investigation is unfinished against Tom Lakin, a multimillionaire lawyer and big-time Democratic Party bankroller who was once at the pinnacle of Madison County's renowned personal injury litigators. . . . Lakin did land in federal prison on a drug conviction. . . . And he is being sued in civil court over the sex claims. But that suit has been stalled, its lawyer says, by the unfinished state case. . . . "We can't proceed with our civil suit with the state saying it's considering prosecution," lamented Ed Unsell, an East Alton lawyer representing the boy, now 20, in a suit filed in 2006. . . . "This boy needs vindication," Unsell insisted. . . . Charles Colburn, a lawyer with the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, confirmed in a recent interview that its probe is still moving forward. He blamed difficulties in obtaining some unspecified piece of federal evidence for the delay. . . . The investigation was initially stymied by issues of conflicts of interest and overlapping investigations, most of which were sorted out years ago.

MINNESOTA   

Lawyer Pleads Guilty to 'Nice Guy' Operation

FOX 9 News

11-23-10 -- A former assistant Hennepin County prosecutor pled guilty to three felony counts of promoting prostitution. . . . John St. Marie, 66, admitted to the allegations and agreed to be disbarred. In July 2010, St. Marie was charged with six felony counts of promoting prostitution. . . . According to the criminal complaint, St. Marie is accused of operating a website that advertised prostitution services. He set up appointments for prostitutes with men he called “nice guys” – those whom he claimed were safe and would pay well, the complaint says.

WASHINGTON   

Accused District Attorney Dean Gushwa Arraigned

By Lena Vargas, KEPR 19

11-23-10 -- KEPR Action News is continuing to cover the criminal case against local District Attorney Dean Gushwa. . . . Tuesday morning, he sat at the defendant's table at Umatilla County Circuit Court in Pendleton on charges he forced employees into a relationship. . . . As we found out, the criminal charges may be just the beginning, now that he's on the other side of the law. . . . After prosecuting hundreds of criminals in Umatilla County, Dean Gushwa is now acting as both defense attorney and defendant. We caught up with him after his arraignment, but he didn’t want to talk to KEPR about the accusations against him. . . . "At this point, I am representing myself. I will review the documents the state has and if I need to, I'll get an attorney then," said Gushwa. . . . During his arraignment on five counts of official misconduct, Gushwa asked a judge to let him go back to work. The judge said “no”. The argument by acting District Attorney Darren Tweedt is he’s still getting paid, so it's not a financial hardship.

MINNESOTA   

Prominent attorney agrees to be disbarred

By KARE 11 Staff Writer 

11-19-10 -- A petition and stipulation agreeing to disbar Aaron Biber from practicing law was filed in Minnesota Supreme Court Friday. . . . Aaron Biber was sentence to 18 years in prison on Oct. 21 after being convicted for First Degreee Criminal Sexual Conduct after it was learned he raped his son's 15-year-old friend. Biber started practicing law in May of 1988. . . . Biber once worked for a prominent Twin Cities law firm and is the former president of the Hennepin County Bar Association. It's been a long fall to convicted sex offender. . . . Prosecutors wanted double the normal sentence. The defense asked for probation.

NEW YORK  

Don't I Know You?: NY Court Officer Arraigned in His Own Court on Cocaine, Child Porn Charges

By Mark Fass | New York Law Journal | New York Lawyer

11-19-10 -- A court officer assigned to Brooklyn Criminal Court has been charged with possession of cocaine and child pornography. The charges against Thomas Sotiridy, 60, stem from two separate incidents. . . . In September, Mr. Sotiridy allegedly engaged in a two-hour, sexual online chat with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. Then, on Tuesday, he allegedly attempted to purchase 3 1/2 grams of cocaine from another undercover officer.

ILLINOIS  

Former big firm associates suspended over sexual encounter

Leigh Jones, The National Law Journal   

11-16-10 -- The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended the law licenses of two former associates from prominent law firms over a drunken sexual encounter with a Wisconsin woman in 2005. . . . The court on Nov. 12 suspended former Seyfarth Shaw associate Stephan Addison for 60 days and former Schiff Hardin associate Benjamin Butler for 30 days. . . . The court adopted a recommendation issued in August by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, which found that the attorneys' conduct reflected badly on the profession and was prejudicial to the administration of justice. It also found that the attorneys had brought disrepute to the profession. . . . The decision stemmed from a weekend in August 2005 at a summer house in Green Lake, Wis., that belonged to Addison's family. According to the disciplinary commission's report, Addison and Butler, both in their late 20s, went to bars in Green Lake on the evening of Aug. 6, 2005, after an afternoon of drinking and socializing at the house. Around 2 a.m., they met Dawn Paez at one of the bars. She agreed to drive them back to the house. At some point, they told Paez that they were lawyers and gave her their business cards. . . . Before arriving at the house, Paez pulled the car into a boat ramp area and parked it. According to the report, she then engaged in sex acts with the men on the hood of the car.

OREGON  

Gushwa charged with five counts of misconduct

By Phil Wright, East Oregonian

11-10-10 -- Umatilla County District Attorney Dean Gushwa faces charges of using his office to obtain sex and of trying to cover it up. . . . Tuesday, the Oregon Attorney General’s Office filed five counts of official misconduct against Gushwa. The Class A misdemeanors stem from an Oregon Department of Justice investigation that began Aug. 18, after an employee in Gushwa’s office reported him for a sex crime. . . . The investigation prompted Gushwa to take a leave of absence on Aug. 26, the same day the East Oregonian broke the news. . . . Gushwa has maintained he is innocent of any wrongdoing. The EO left a phone message for Gushwa this morning, but he has yet to return the call.

WISCONSIN    

Plain Talk: Open up complaints against lawyers

Dave Zweifel | Cap Times editor emeritus | Capital Times (blog)

11-08-10 -- The case of Ken Kratz, the “sexting” former Calumet County district attorney, suggests the state of Wisconsin needs to revamp its rules regarding the regulation of lawyers, especially those on the public payroll. . . . Stephanie Van Groll, a victim of domestic violence who blew the whistle on Kratz, deserves credit for standing up to his disgusting behavior. The events that ensued also shone a light on the Office of Lawyer Regulation, the Supreme Court’s agency that’s supposed to safeguard the public from bad lawyers. . . . Created in 2000 (after its predecessor agency was deemed ineffective), the OLR is charged with policing the state’s legal profession and investigating complaints against attorneys. If it finds a complaint to have merit, the office can either reach an agreement with the lawyer on an appropriate reprimand or ask the state Supreme Court to bring disciplinary action.

OHIO  

Centerville attorney sentenced for child porn, obscenity crimes

Times Community Newspapers of Greater Dayton

11-05-10 -- Marc Norman Greenberg, 33, of Centerville, was sentenced in United States District Court to 24 months in prison as punishment for possessing child pornography and transmitting obscene materials over the Internet. . . . Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced the sentence handed down Friday by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose. . . . While in prison, Greenberg will continue sex offender treatment. After his release, he will be under court supervision for five years. During that time, he must submit to random polygraph tests. He must also pay for the installation of keystroke monitoring software on any computer he owns. He will also be required to register as a sex offender anywhere he lives, works or goes to school for 15 years after his release from prison. . . . Judge Rose modified Greenberg's bond and restricted him to home confinement with the only exception to attend treatment until he surrenders to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence at a date and time to be determined. . . . FBI agents arrested Greenberg at his Kettering law office in May 2009. Greenberg pleaded guilty on August 4 to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of transferring obscene material to minors. / Marc N. Greenberg Plea Agreement for Possession of Child Pornography provided by Scribd.

COLORADO   

Colo. DA Facing Unlawful Sexual Contact Charge

(AP) cbs4denver.com

11-03-10 -- A western Colorado district attorney was charged Wednesday with counts of unlawful sexual contact, indecent exposure, extortion and official misconduct. . . . Prosecutors said the counts against Myrl Serra involved three alleged female victims. Initially, officials said there was one alleged victim. No details about the allegations were released. . . . Serra, 48, district attorney for six counties, was arrested on Sept. 30. He is free on bond. . . . Colin Bresee, one of Serra's attorneys, said he can't comment on the allegations because he did not know the details.

UTAH  

Trial set for judge who allegedly exposed himself

By jason bergreen, The Salt Lake Tribune   

11-02-10 -- A December trial has been scheduled for a Millard County Justice Court judge accused of exposing himself to an undercover police officer in a Salt Lake City park restroom. . . . Ronald R. Hare, 63, didn’t say anything during a short pretrial conference Monday afternoon in Salt Lake City Justice Court. . . . But his new attorney, Justin Ashworth, asked Judge L.G. Cutler for a continuance so he could review evidence in the case. Cutler denied the request, saying the case was already four months old and Hare had previously been granted a continuance. The request also had the appearance of delaying the case until after Tuesday’s election, Cutler said. “I’m required to ensure the integrity of the judicial practice and the judicial code,” Cutler said.

MINNESOTA   

Mpls. lawyer disbarred for role in 'nice guy' ring

Associated Press, Star Tribune 

11-01-10 -- A former assistant Hennepin County attorney has been disbarred for running a prostitution ring. . . . John Paul St. Marie of Minneapolis was charged in July with six felony counts of promoting prostitution. The complaint alleged that the 66-year-old set up appointments for prostitutes with "nice guy" customers he claimed were safe and could pay well.

NEW YORK  

Ex-bodyguard: Porn-crazed attorney had a stable of boy toys

By Selim Algar, nypost.com

11-01-10 -- It was supposed to be a dream gig for the newly retired NYPD cop. . . . Instead, decorated former Detective John Brandt says in a blockbuster new lawsuit, his role as head of security for a well-heeled Manhattan lawyer was nothing but a nightmare -- with his boss laying naked in bed in front of him watching porno flicks and shelling out money to a flock of young Latino boys. . . . "I got to the point where I just couldn't do it anymore," Brandt, 43, of Floral Park, LI, told The Post of his time with high-powered lawyer Roy Adams, 70. . . . Brandt, a retired detective with the NYPD's elite Major Case Squad, recently sued Adams -- who works for the tony firm Constantine Cannon -- in federal court in Central Islip for unspecified damages related to his alleged bizarre, 18-month stint as the lawyer's security chief and driver. . . . Brandt -- who had worked on such high-profile cases as the Imette St. Guillen murder -- first met Adams through mutual police pals in the late '90s.

October 2010

MINNESOTA   

Disgraced lawyer Biber gets 18 years for raping 15-year-old boy

By Randy Furst, Star Tribune

10-20-10 -- Once-prominent attorney Aaron Biber's teenage rape victim told a judge Wednesday that being groomed and raped by Biber has made him feel "truly alone in this world." . . . "I don't know what normal relationships can be...I trust no one anymore," the boy, reading from a statement, said to Hennepin County District Court Judge Lloyd Zimmerman, who is conducting a hearing in preparation for sentencing Biber. . . . The boy's father emotionally described how, "My son took a loaded shotgun and contemplated ending his life." The family stood together and hugged each other while reading their victim impact statements.

Experts: Disgraced lawyer Biber can be treated for sex offending

By Randy Furst and Paul Walsh, Star Tribune

10-19-10 -- Pyschologists testifying for Aaron Biber, a formerly prominent Minnesota attorney, said Tuesday morning in Hennepin County District Court that the convicted sex offender was the type who could be successful in outpatient treatment. . . . Judge Lloyd Ziommerman began taking testimony at Biber's sentencing hearing, The courtroom was packed with family, friends and supporters of both the teenage victim and the 47-year-old lawyer who admitted raping him. Biber pled guilty this summer to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the victim he had groomed for years through messages, pornography and alcohol.

WISCONSIN    

Former Prosecutor Sued by Abuse Victim He 'Sexted'

Wisconsin Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation that could lead to charges against Kratz, who resigned earlier this month

Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press, Law.com

10-18-10 -- A domestic abuse victim filed a lawsuit Friday claiming a disgraced Wisconsin prosecutor violated her constitutional rights by sending her text messages seeking to start an affair while prosecuting her ex-boyfriend. . . . The lawsuit filed on behalf of Stephanie Van Groll, 26, alleges former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz's behavior was sexually harassing, discriminating and part of a pattern dating back years. It claims her right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution was violated and seeks unspecified damages. . . . "Kratz caused (Van Groll) a high degree of humiliation, anxiety and distress and a substantial loss of her and her family's privacy that would not have occurred but for his conduct," according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee.

7 Wisconsin lawyers punished for sexual advances

By Jim Collar • Green Bay Press Gazette

10-17-10 -- Although a state agency found that Ken Kratz's sexually suggestive text messages didn't constitute professional misconduct, records show at least seven other Wisconsin lawyers were punished for making sexual advances involving clients. . . . The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation sparked outrage last month when state officials and the public learned that the office dismissed a complaint against the Calumet County district attorney earlier this year for the sexually harassing text messages he sent in 2009 to the victim of a domestic violence case he was prosecuting. . . . State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, called for a legislative audit of the office based on its finding in the Kratz matter. . . . "This guy understood domestic violence victims and he was using it against this woman," Berceau said. "This is as unethical as it gets."

NORTH DAKOTA  

$500K Bond Stays for Former Judge Facing 52 Felony Sex Charges

The Associated Press, Law.com

10-13-10 -- A former North Dakota district judge and Elgin, N.D., police chief still has to post $500,000 bond to get out of jail on 52 felony sex charges. . . . Randall Hoffman's attorney asked Monday that Hoffman be required to post only 10 percent of the bond while he awaits trial. South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick denied the request.

NEW JERSEY  

Disbarred Jersey City lawyer pleads guilty to promoting prostitution

Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal

10-08-10 -- A disbarred Jersey City lawyer who admitted five years ago to swindling a 90-year-old Jersey City woman out of her home and life savings has pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution, officials said. . . . Francis Monahan, 53, pleaded guilty before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan on Sept. 27, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hernandez said today. Monahan faces three to five years in prison when sentenced in December. . . . Monahan was apparently handing out business cards touting an enterprise called "Heavenly Massage," which included a phone number but no address. His role was interviewing and hiring masseuses / prostitutes for the service, which apparently arranged transportation for johns to rendezvous with the masseuses/prostitutes at hotels, officials said.

NEW YORK  

Tax Panel Rejects Lawyer's Bid to Deduct Spending for Sex

Joel Stashenko, New York Law Journal

10-07-10 -- A state tax appeals board has denied a retired Brooklyn lawyer's attempts to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars he spent on prostitutes, massages, pornography and other sex-related activities as deductions for "medical expenses." Among William G. Halby's disallowed deductions were $40,588 on his 2002 return for "therapeutic sex," $70,776 for "massage therapy to relieve osteoarthritis and enhance erectile function through frequent orgasms" and $2,173 for "pornography to enhance sexual performance in lieu of taking Viagra." . . . "Patronizing a prostitute is illegal in New York and, thus, a taxpayer cannot claim a deduction for any illegal operation or treatment," the panel ruled in an unsigned opinion in Matter of Halby, Nos. 821494/821810. At any rate, virtually all of the services claimed by the lawyer had not been prescribed by a doctor and "were not for the treatment of a medical condition, but rather, were instead personal items," the panel concluded.

WYOMING   

Ex-Duxbury lawyer suspended for raping her foster son

The Patriot Ledger

10-07-10 -- A former Duxbury lawyer has been suspended from practice by the Wyoming Bar Association for a 2004 conviction for the rape of her 12-year-old foster son in the 1970s. . . . Michele Neves Eliot, now 67, was suspended this week, 6 1/2 years after a Plymouth County district court judge found her guilty of inducing her foster son, Robert Neves, into sexual intercourse. . . . Eliot still faces a bar association disciplinary hearing in Wyoming. . . . The began when Neves was 12. Eliot – then Michele Durgin – was married to David Durgin. She and the boy later had a child, married and divorced, all in Wyoming.

NEW HAMPSHIRE  

N.H. Lawyer Publicly Censured for Having Sex With Client

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

10-06-10 -- Add another lawyer to the list of those recently disciplined for having sex with the wife in a divorce case. . . . In the case of Paul Maggiotto, however, the wife was also his client and he "had a duty not to engage in a sexual relationship with his divorce client," says the Professional Conduct Committee of the New Hampshire Supreme Court in its written opinion (PDF).

PENNSYLVANIA  

Berwyn lawyer guilty of sex with a minor

By Christine Olley, Philadelphia Daily News

10-02-10 -- A Chester County lawyer was convicted yesterday of having a sexual relationship with an underage boy whom he took into his Russian apartment after the child's family could no longer afford to send him to a prestigious ballet academy. . . . Kenneth Schneider, 45, of Berwyn, founder and president of a nonprofit arts group, was convicted of traveling for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and of transporting a person for criminal sexual conduct. . . . During the trial, Roman Zavarov, now 24 and a professional ballet dancer in Arizona, told the jury that he met Schneider in 1998 when he was 12. . . . Schneider, who did legal work for companies owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and who led the Apogee Foundation, offered to pay for Zavarov's room and board at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and convinced his parents to let him stay at Schneider's apartment so he could continue at the academy, he said.

CALIFORNIA  

Attorney Pleads Guilty in Sex-With-Minor Sting

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal

10-01-10 -- A Los Angeles attorney has pleaded guilty to charges that he traveled to a hotel to meet a 16-year-old girl from Georgia who turned out to be an undercover police detective. . . . Eduardo Brito Leaton, 39, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of meeting a minor for lewd purposes and three counts of using a minor for sex acts, according to the Los Angeles County, Calif., district attorney's office. Leaton is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 18 to six years in state prison and will have to register as a sex offender for life.

COLORADO   

Western Slope DA accused of misconduct, unlawful sexual contact

By Kirk Mitchell , The Denver Post  

10-01-10 -- The top prosecutor for a large swath of western Colorado was arrested Thursday on suspicion of using his position to engage in unlawful sexual contact and official misconduct. . . . Myrl Serra, 49, district attorney for the 7th Judicial District, was released from Montrose County Jail at 8:30 a.m. on a $5,000 bond after his arrest earlier in the morning. Serra's next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 3 in Mesa County Court. . . . All judges in Montrose have recused themselves from hearing the case, according a letter from Gerald Marroney, state court administrator. . . . The Colorado attorney general's office was appointed special prosecutor to handle the case against Serra. Details of the arrest affidavit were sealed while the investigation continues.

WISCONSIN    

Attorney: Civil Suit Against Kratz More Likely

(WTAQ)

10-01-10 -- The attorney for the domestic abuse victim who received racy text messages from prosecutor Ken Kratz says he’s been hesitant to file a civil suit. . . . But Michael Fox says such a lawsuit is more likely, after the state Crime Victims’ Rights Board said this week it did not have the power to punish Kratz. . . . Fox said crime victims have protections against bureaucratic abuses – but after no agency has punished Kratz for what he did, Fox wonders if those protections are really in place.

September 2010

ILLINOIS  

Retainer? I barely knew her!

Attorney representing prostitute pro bono disciplined for failing to disclose his own related case

Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune

09-30-10 -- A Chicago attorney who landed in hot water last year after being arrested with a prostitute appeared before a disciplinary board Thursday to face another charge — that he agreed to represent her for free while they were handcuffed in the back of a Chicago police vehicle but never disclosed the potential conflict of interest. . . . Steven Koukios, 52, was taken into custody after arriving at a Chicago apartment in April 2009 just moments after police had arrested Shannon Rosillo, 33, for soliciting an undercover police officer. Authorities charged Rosillo with prostitution and Koukios with visiting a "house of ill fame." . . . As they sat in the back of a Chicago police vehicle, Koukios agreed to take the case without payment.

CALIFORNIA  

Irvine lawyer charged with faking sex websites of neighbors

By Rachanee Srisavasdi, The Orange County Register

09-29-10 -- A prominent Irvine lawyer has been charged with impersonating his next-door neighbors, and creating fake Web pages advertising sexual services from the neighbors' home. . . . Franklin Casco Jr., 49, pleaded not guilty in June to 10 felonies, including one count each of conspiracy and stalking, as well as four counts of identity theft. If convicted, he faces up to nine years in prison. . . . A second man who works at Casco's firm, Larry Lorenzo Cardenas Jr., 31, also has pleaded not guilty to the same charges. . . . Prosecutors say the pair committed "harassment by electronic communication,'' by pretending to be neighbors and placing ads on websites such as Myspace.com and geocites.com around April to November 2009 that invited strangers to come to the neighbors' home for sexual encounters, according to the criminal complaint. . . . Casco's defense attorney, John Barnett, said Wednesday that his client is innocent, and that authorities do not have evidence to link Casco to the crime. . . . Police claim to have tracked IP addresses for the individuals who created the websites to Casco's firm, but such addresses do not identify the users or the specific computers, Barnett said.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Intercourse judge handed out condom-filled acorns, police say

abc27 

09-29-10 -- Acorns falling in Soldiers Grove on the state Capitol Complex in Harrisburg is a normal occurrence in late September, but Capitol Police say what a district judge did with acorns is anything but normal. . . . Police say Judge Isaac Stoltzfus hollowed out acorns, but condoms inside, put the top back on and randomly handed them out last week.

WISCONSIN    

Victim advocates want more from DA Ken Kratz

by colleen kottke • Gannett Wisconsin Media

09-29-10 -- While news of the Calumet County district attorney's plans to step down from his office has placated some critics, those who work daily with abuse victims say Kratz should give up his license to practice law. . . . "As an attorney and member of the bar myself, Kratz totally abused his power and cast a stain over the entire legal profession," said Tony Gibart, policy coordinator for the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "His resignation is not going to repair or resolve the breach of trust that many victims now feel in respect to the legal system. In order to restore that confidence, it's going to require more."

Attorney Says 'Sexting' Wis. Prosecutor to Resign

Carrie Antlfinger, The Associated Press, Law.com  

09-28-10 -- A Wisconsin prosecutor facing removal from office over accusations that he abused his position in seeking relationships with vulnerable women will resign instead, his attorney said Monday. . . . Attorney Robert Craanen said Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz will step down before Oct. 8, the date set for a hearing to hear testimony on his possible removal from office. . . . Kratz, a Republican, had been the top prosecutor in the eastern Wisconsin county south of Green Bay since 1992. He had been facing demands for his resignation since The Associated Press reported earlier this month he sent 30 text messages to a domestic abuse victim trying to strike up an affair while he prosecuted her ex-boyfriend on a strangulation charge.

NORTH DAKOTA  

Former Judge Charged

KXMBTV Bismarck 

09-24-10 -- A former North Dakota district judge is in jail tonight... accused of sexually abusing a young girl for the past five years. . . . Randall Hoffman faces 52 felony charges. . . . 50 are for corruption or solicitation of a minor. . . . He faces one charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child and one charge attempted gross sexual imposition. The criminal complaint against Hoffman indicates he began molesting the girl when she was 12 or 13 years old. . . . He is accused of attempting to rape the girl now 17 last Wedensday, before he was arrested.

TENNESSEE  

Prosecutor Resigns (Again) Over at Work Sexcapades

By The Associated Press, New York Lawyer

09-22-10 -- Hawkins County Assistant Attorney General Doug Godbee has resigned over accusations that he requested sexual favors from a female defendant. . . . District Attorney General Berkeley Bell told the Kingsport Times-News Tuesday that he requested the resignation after the unnamed accuser presented him with text and voicemail messages sent to her from Godbee. Bell said he has turned the case over to District Attorney General Russell Johnson of Kingston.

WISCONSIN    

Doyle receives several complaints about Kratz

By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel

09-22-10 -- Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday he has received a number of complaints asking to remove Calumet County District Attorney Kenneth R. Kratz from office, but so far none of the complaints is in the correct legal form. . . . Doyle said his office is working with complainants to get sworn statements that detail the reasons Kratz should be removed. Doyle said that once he receives a properly filed complaint, he will appoint a commissioner and begin the process of removing Kratz. . . . "There was an outpouring of people complaining and asking for his removal," Doyle said. "It was just a matter of getting that in the correct form." . . . There is "no doubt" a proper complaint will be filed, Doyle said. . . . Kratz has been under intense pressure to resign since last week, when it was revealed that he had sent sexually suggestive text messages to a domestic violence victim while he was prosecuting her ex-boyfriend.

3rd Woman on Sexting D.A.: "It's Disgusting"

Maria Ruskiewicz: Ken Kratz Helped Me Get Into Law School, but Sent Me Inappropriate Texts; I'm Finally Free to Come Forward

CBS News 

09-22-10 -- A Wisconsin district attorney is under fire -- charged by three different women with sending lewd, suggestive text messages and even offering to trade legal favors for sex. . . . Stephanie Van Groll, 26, came forward first. Van Groll was the victim of a domestic abuse attack last October -- badly beaten by her ex-boyfriend. . . . She says the district attorney, Ken Kratz, who was prosecuting that man, also sent her 30 text messages -- many of them sexually explicit. . . . In one text, he wrote, "Are you the kind of girl that likes secret contact with an older married elected DA? ... The riskier the better?" . . . Despite her claims, no charges were brought against Kratz. Then last week, a second, unidentified woman came forward, claiming she, too, had been harassed by Kratz. . . . She says in January, Kratz revealed details of an ongoing murder case to her and then invited her to witness the victim's autopsy -- with one particular requirement -- that she "act as his girlfriend and wear high heels and a skirt" on the bizarre date.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Feds: Berwyn lawyer intimidated Russian boy into having sex

By Michael Hinkelman, Philadelphia Daily News

09-20-10 -- Federal prosecutors say a wealthy international businessman-lawyer from Berwyn, charged with traveling to Russia in August 2001 to have sex with a 15-year-old boy, "psychologically manipulated" his victim through "fear and intimidation." . . . According to the court filing, the lawyer, Kenneth Schneider, allegedly showed his victim - a Russian ballet dancer - a movie about the famous Russian ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, allegedly comparing the two. . . . The feds say Schneider also showed his alleged victim figurines he purchased of mythical half-human, half-goat creatures known as fauns. (In the 1912 ballet "The Afternoon of a Faun," Nijinsky reportedly mimed masturbation with the scarf of a nymph.) . . . Prosecutors may show the movie to jurors. Jury selection in the trial of Schneider, 45, who has pleaded not guilty, is to begin this morning.

WISCONSIN    

Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz taking medical leave

By Jim Collar • Post-Crescent staff writer

09-20-10 -- Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz announced he is taking a medical leave beginning today as calls for his resignation continue following disclosure of suggestive text messages sent to a crime victim last year. . . . Kratz wrote in a news release that he has retained an attorney and would make no further comment regarding the text messages to domestic abuse victim Stephanie Van Groll. Assistant Dist. Atty. Jeffrey Froehlich will staff the district attorney’s office in Kratz’s absence, the release said. . . . The length of the leave hasn’t been determined, Kratz said. . . . Kratz said Friday he began psychotherapy sessions after Van Groll brought the text messages to the attention of police.

IDAHO  

Idaho lawyer faces child sex-abuse charges

By Meghann M. Cuniff, The Spokesman-Review 

09-19-10 -- A North Idaho attorney is being held without bail in San Diego after allegations he sexually abused a teenage girl, including during "dates" at Southern California hotels. . . . David C. Jacquot, 52, also is under investigation in Bonner County, Idaho, for a suspicious fire that destroyed his rural home days after authorities learned of the abuse allegations. . . . Fire officials reportedly found more than 40 firearms, including a grenade launcher, while searching the remains of the anti-tax attorney's scorched home in March. Authorities say the fire appeared to be arson. . . . A federal grand jury in San Diego indicted Jacquot last month on child-exploitation charges. He was ordered held without bail earlier this month at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Southern California.

VIRGINIA  

Former Arnold & Porter Associate Charged with 10 More Child Porn Counts

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

09-17-10 -- A former Arnold & Porter associate is facing additional counts of possessing child pornography after a police review of materials found in a search of his home. . . . Joshua Gessler, 41, was accused last month of paying a 15-year-old girl for sex and photographing the encounter, the Washington Post blog Crime Scene reports

SOUTH CAROLINA   

Sex with Client’s Spouse Is a Per Se Legal Ethics Violation, Top SC Court Says

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

09-14-10 -- An anonymous member of the South Carolina bar had an unblemished disciplinary record in 37 years of practice. . . . But he has now been admonished after admittedly having a brief affair with a client's wife. . . . A hearing panel of the state Commission of Lawyer Conduct dismissed an allegation that this conduct violated Rule 1.7 of the South Carolina attorney conduct rules, which addresses conflicts of interest, while nonetheless finding it "morally inappropriate and ill-advised at best." However, in an opinion yesterday, the South Carolina Supreme Court held the affair did violate the legal ethics rule.

MICHIGAN  

Woman sexually assaulted in jury room bathroom by deputy city attorney sues in federal court

John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press

09-13-10 -- A drunken driving suspect who was sexually assaulted by former Holland Deputy City Attorney Carl Gabrielse in a courthouse jury room is now suing both Gabrielse and the city. . . . The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, alleges the 31-year-old Gabrielse committed assault and battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. . . . It also claims the 23-year-old victim's constitutional rights were violated.

NEW MEXICO  

Retired NM attorney pleads to child porn charges

Associated Press, NewsWest9.com

09-01-10 -- A 70-year-old retired Santa Fe attorney has pleaded guilty to federal receipt of child pornography charges. . . . Robert Warren was indicted last year and pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Bruce Black.

August 2010

NEW YORK  

Disgraced Manhattan Judge James Gibbons' neighbors say they're still in state of shock

By Vinnie Rotondaro and Tina Moore , Daily News Writers

08-29-10 -- With a hand in his pocket and a slightly furrowed brow, disgraced Manhattan Judge James Gibbons was stoic during a stroll near his Brooklyn apartment Saturday. . . . A week earlier, he had been a highly respected jurist in Manhattan's Criminal Court, but he quit his job over allegations that he kept a stash of porn on his work computer. . . . Sources said Thursday that Gibbons had loaded his Manhattan Criminal Court station with sexually explicit images - some of females whose ages haven't been determined. . . . Gibbons, an ex-prosecutor who convicted rapists and killers, quit last week after the cache was discovered. . . . Residents at his Eighth Ave. building reacted with dismay to allegations that their law-and-order neighbor was apparently porn-crazed.

IOWA  

Waterloo lawyer: Courthouse sex allegation is 'baseless'

By Clark Kauffman • Desmoines Register

08-27-10 -- A Waterloo lawyer says allegations that he had sex with a client in an Iowa courthouse are "completely baseless." . . . The Iowa Supreme Court's Attorney Disciplinary Board alleges that Clovis M. Bowles, 56, had sexual relations with a 33-year-old female client on several occasions in 2007 and 2008. . . . Bowles was allegedly aware that the client had a history of emotional problems and had hired him shortly after attempting suicide and checking herself into a psychiatric facility. The Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court is recommending that the court suspend Bowles' law license for three years.

VIRGINIA  

Arnold & Porter Associate Charged With Possession, Production of Child Pornography

Jeff Jeffrey, The National Law Journal

08-25-10 -- Joshua Gessler, 41, an Arnold & Porter associate in the firm's Northern Virginia office, has been charged with five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of production of child pornography. . . . According to a news release from the Fairfax County Police Department, the investigation began after the department received a report that a 15-year-old Centreville, Va.-area girl had run away from home. Through the course of the investigation, detectives discovered that Gessler reached out to the girl online. Gessler allegedly met the girl in person and took photos of her that the police department says were "of a sexual nature." He later allegedly transmitted them electronically. . . . Gessle's case has been set for trial on Sept. 9 in the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Court officials said he was being prosecuted in juvenile court because the victim was a minor.

WASHINGTON   

Washington lawyer accused of paying 15-year-old runaway for sex

By Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer

08-25-10 -- A lawyer in one of Washington's biggest firms was arrested and accused of paying a 15-year-old runaway from Fairfax County to have sex with him while he photographed the encounter. . . . Joshua J. Gessler, 41, an associate with Arnold & Porter, was arrested Aug. 9 and charged with one count of producing child pornography and five counts of possessing child pornography. Court records show he spent a week in jail before being released on his own recognizance Aug. 16 by Chief Fairfax Juvenile Court Judge Kimberly J. Daniel. . . . Fairfax police did not disclose Gessler's arrest until asked about it this week by a reporter for WRC (Channel 4), which first reported the story.

GEORGIA  

Ethics Probe to Review Cases of Judge and Lawyer Caught Having Sex in Parked Car

By R. Robin McDonald | Daily Report | New York Lawyer

08-24-10 -- The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council has retained the former president of the State Bar of Georgia to investigate whether an affair between former Griffin Superior Court Chief Judge Paschal English and Kim Cornwell, a Griffin Circuit public defender, compromised any of Cornwell’s cases that were adjudicated by English. . . . Mack Crawford, the council’s executive director, said that after consultation with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s executive counsel, Nels Peterson, and the Georgia Attorney General’s office, he asked Bryan M. Cavan to conduct an independent investigation. . . . “I felt like the agency needed to insure that defendants’ rights were not compromised,” Crawford said. “As director [of the Standards Council], I had a responsibility to our clients. … I felt like it needed to be someone who wasn’t associated with the circuit.”

CALIFORNIA  

Calif. Attorney Charged in Child Sex Sting

Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal

08-23-10 -- A Los Angeles attorney was charged on Aug. 18 in an Internet child sex sting. . . . The Los Angeles County, Calif., District Attorney's office alleged that Eduardo Brito Leaton, 39, made friends with a 16-year-old girl while intending to commit a "lewd act." He was arrested on Aug. 17 after sending sexually explicit e-mails to the girl, who was in reality an undercover police detective.

ALABAMA  

Former Alabama prosecutor arrested on enticement, child porn charges

By the CNN Wire Staff

08-18-10 -- A former Alabama assistant district attorney who specialized in prosecuting sex crimes against minors is accused of enticing what he thought was a teenage girl online for sexual purposes, authorities said. . . . Steven Giardini was indicted on charges of enticement and solicitation crimes over the computer with the intent to produce child pornography, the Alabama Attorney General's Office said in a statement. Giardini, a former prosecutor in Mobile County, was arrested Tuesday. . . . The charges stem from the suspect's alleged communication with what he thought was a 15-year-girl, Alabama Attorney General Troy King said in a statement Tuesday. But instead he was communicating with an agent from the FBI's Internet Crimes Against Children division.

GEORGIA  

Judge Behind Photo Incident Committed a Crime, Say Female Staff Members From DA's Office

'What occurred was more serious than was reported,' the two said in statement alleging sexual battery

Katheryn Hayes Tucker, Fulton County Daily Report

08-13-10 -- The assistant district attorney and deputy investigator at the center of the controversy that led to the abrupt retirement of Cobb County Superior Court Chief Judge Kenneth O. Nix say he committed a crime against them by touching them inappropriately, but they do not plan to take legal action. . . . "What occurred was more serious than was reported," the two women, Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway and Deputy Investigator Glenda Roberts, said in a prepared statement released by their boss, Cobb District Attorney Patrick H. Head. . . . They were referring to Nix's characterization of the incident as his "flicking" them both on their backsides as they got up from his lap after a photograph he asked them to make. Although the women did not describe the gesture in the statement, their suggestion was that it was more of a grab than a flick or a pat, as the judge suggested.

KANSAS  

Lawyer Accused of Sexual Harassment Says Testosterone Meds Made Him Do It

By Mark Hansen, ABA Journal

08-13-10 -- Kansas lawyer accused of sexually harassing five judicial assistants over a two-year period claimed that a medication he was taking for low testosterone levels made him do it. . . . Chauncey M. Depew, who does criminal and traffic defense work, told the court that a testosterone medication he had been taking had made him aggressive, excitable, nervous, agitated and depressed. Depew also said that he didn't view his behavior as wrong because he was friends with most of the women he was accused of harassing and was only joking around. . . . Neither excuse seemed to carry much weight with the Supreme Court of Kansas, which issued a one-year suspension to Depew Aug. 6, according to a report on Kansas City TV station WDAF.

GEORGIA  

Judge Retires After Photo Incident Raises Questions

Nix said he resigned to avoid a Judicial Qualifications Commission investigation into accusations that he inappropriately touched two women

Katheryn Hayes Tucker, Fulton County Daily Report

08-12-10 -- The sudden retirement announcement of Cobb County Superior Court Chief Judge Kenneth O. Nix -- followed immediately by news reports saying he inappropriately touched female staff members of Cobb County District Attorney Patrick H. Head -- has many in the legal community scratching their heads. . . . "People are upset and confused. I don't know anything about the incident. All I know is he's a great man and a good judge," said Cobb County Superior Court Judge Adele P. Grubbs. "You just hate to see his career end like this." . . . "It's a sad chapter. We've lost a very good judge. I'm baffled by this very bizarre episode," said George W. "Buddy" Darden, senior counsel with McKenna Long & Aldridge, a former U.S. congressman, former Cobb district attorney and former state representative who served with Nix in the General Assembly. "He's one of the finest people I've ever known. I deeply regret this situation." . . . Head, whose employees were at the center of the episode, called the judge's retirement "disturbing" and said Nix is "a well respected jurist and has served with distinction for many years."

KANSAS  

Lawyer Suspended for Sexual Harassment

Lawyer allegedly tells woman he wanted to "lick her butt"

Reported by: Tess Koppelman Posted by Sarah Clark, WDAF-TV Web Producer

08-12-10 -- A lawyer accused of sexual harassment will be suspended from practicing law for one year. The Supreme Court reviewed the disciplinary case of Chauncey Depew and gave him an even longer suspension than what the disciplinary office was asking for. . . . There's a long list of things that Depew was accused of, and even though he was given a year-long suspension, at least one of the judges questioned whether he should ever be re-instated. Click here to see more on the case. . . . Depew has been a defense attorney and a pro-tem judge in Johnson County in 2007 and 2008. In the disciplinary court papers Depew is accused of harassing five administrative assistants. In one case he left a note on one woman's desk saying he wanted to lick her butt. He left a note on another woman's desk that read "You're hot."

MINNESOTA   

Lawyer guilty in sex assault to stay in jail

In his ruling, judge says Aaron Biber would be more likely to flee now that he faces a lengthy prison sentence.

By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune

08-12-10 -- Convicted sex predator and former Minnesota State Bar Association treasurer Aaron Biber won't get out of jail pending his Oct. 19 sentencing, Hennepin County District Judge Lloyd Zimmerman ruled Thursday. . . . Biber's lawyer, Rachael Goldberger, argued for his release, saying the defense had no warning that Biber might be jailed after a hearing two weeks ago. . . . At the hearing, Zimmerman decided Assistant County Attorneys Judy Johnston and Juanita Boyd proved beyond a reasonable doubt that there were "aggravating factors" in Biber's assault on a 15-year-old neighbor boy.

GENERAL

How HP's General Counsel Handled Company's Sex Harassment Nightmare

Sue Reisinger , Corporate Counsel

08-10-10 -- For Hewlett-Packard Co. general counsel Michael Holston the nightmare began when CEO Mark Hurd handed him a June 29 letter accusing Hurd of sexual harassment. Hurd took the letter to Holston, reportedly within a half hour of receiving it. . . . The nightmare mostly ended last Friday when Hurd gave Holston a signed, nine-page "separation agreement" ending the CEO's five-year reign at the company. That's when HP announced to the press that Hurd was stepping down. . . . The agreement gives Hurd a cushy severance package, including $12 million cash plus various stock options estimated to be worth $30 million to $40 million. . . . Presumably a chunk of that $12 million will go to Hurd's accuser, a former HP contractor named Jodie Fisher. Hurd and Fisher reached a confidential deal to resolve the allegations.

NEW JERSEY  

N.J. Supreme Court rules officer's groping conviction does not bar him from public work

Jennifer Golson/The Star-Ledger

08-04-10 -- A state Supreme Court ruling that allows a former Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Officer convicted of a sex crime to return to the public sector — including police work — could have far-reaching implications on law enforcement and other public workers, experts say. . . . In a 3-2 decision day, the state’s highest court said even though Jeremiah Hupka pleaded guilty to groping his ex-girlfriend without her permission, the crime occurred while he was off-duty and had nothing to do with his job as a sheriff’s officer or a part-time officer in Frenchtown. . . . "It signals to law enforcement officers that they can violate the law and still continue to stay on the job, which I think is a very detrimental message to police as a profession," said Maki Haberfeld, a professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who specializes in ethics.

July 2010

NEW JERSEY  

Lawyer's Indecent Proposals to Female Clients Bring One-Year Suspension

Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

07-30-10 -- The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday issued a one-year suspension to a Newark lawyer who offered discounted fees to female clients or their family members in exchange for sexual favors. . . . David Witherspoon might consider himself lucky. Two justices wanted him disbarred and said the court should set a bright-line rule like the one that mandates disbarment for trust-fund theft. . . . "One's bodily integrity is at least as important as the security of the finances one entrusts to an attorney," Justice Jaynee LaVecchia said in a dissent joined by Justice Barry Albin. . . . "The only appropriate measure of discipline that protects the public from respondent's intolerable behavior, and sends a zero-tolerance message toward lawyers who would consider preying on their clients, is disbarment." . . . But the rest of the court was more forgiving, saying the facts did not warrant imposing so extreme a punishment. This record … lacks the severity of the sexually-unethical behavior that we have previously considered to be worthy of disbarment," Justice Helen Hoens wrote for the majority in In the Matter of David Witherspoon, D-157-08.

MINNESOTA   

Charges filed in 'Nice Guys' sex ring

Ex-assistant county attorney is accused of importing high-dollar prostitutes for Minnesota johns.

By David Chanen, Minneapolis Star Tribune

07-29-10 -- A former assistant Hennepin County attorney was accused in charges filed Thursday of running a high-dollar online prostitution ring that connected women from other countries with regular customers dubbed "Minnesota Nice Guys." . . . It's been more than two years since Minneapolis police started looking at alleged ringleader John St. Marie and a customer list of 30 business owners, lawyers, accountants and mortgage bankers in their early 40s to mid-60s who allegedly met the women at some of Minneapolis' finest hotels. . . . The group got its name because members had clean backgrounds, regarded themselves as above mistreating the women and paid well, investigators said. One women charged her clients $500 an hour.

Lawyer jailed for rape of boy

A judge expressed outrage and revulsion at Aaron Biber's repeated betrayal of the boy's trust.

By Rochelle Olson, Minneapolis Star Tribune  

07-29-10 -- After determining that former state Bar Association Treasurer Aaron Biber acted with particular cruelty in grooming and raping a 15-year-old boy, a judge on Thursday jailed Biber without bail pending his sentencing in October. . . . If Hennepin County District Judge Lloyd Zimmerman's extensive courtroom comments are an indication, Biber, 47, will be looking at a long prison sentence for his guilty plea last week to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. . . . "I cannot resist expressing my indignation and outrage that this child had to be exposed to that conduct," said Zimmerman, who speaks calmly even when expressing disgust. "I have sat through every moment of this horrific trial filled with graphic, searing evidence that is mind-boggling to any adult, much less a child."

MINNESOTA   

Sentencing hearing for Biber includes video from teen rape victim

A 15-year-old boy raped by his friend's father said Minneapolis lawyer Aaron Biber sent him links to pornographic websites to view on his Sony PlayStation Portable.

By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune 

07-28-10 -- A 15-year-old boy raped by his friend's father said Minneapolis lawyer Aaron Biber sent him links to pornographic websites to view on his Sony PlayStation Portable and became increasingly sexual with him over a four-year period. . . . The boy wasn't in court Tuesday, but prosecutors played an hourlong video interview a social worker conducted with the boy in early December. He had revealed the abuse to a hospital social worker treating him for depression. She reported the allegation to South Lake Minnetonka Police Detective Stephen Neururer, who set up the interview at CornerHouse, a Minneapolis social services agency.

PENNSYLVANIA  

'Stalking' Judge Gets 60-Day Suspension, Probation

Psychiatrist says judge 'has difficulty' understanding social cues, context and and might have been a candidate for a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome

Leo Strupczewski, The Legal Intelligencer

07-28-10 -- Pennsylvania's Court of Judicial Discipline has suspended an Erie County magisterial district justice for 60 days who it previously described as "stalking" five young women. . . . The suspension, which is without pay but with medical benefits, is significantly less severe than the punishment the Judicial Conduct Board sought for Gerard L. Alonge. It also includes a term of probation for the remainder of his term. . . . His defense attorney, Philip B. Friedman of Conner Riley Friedman and Weichler in Erie, had petitioned the court for a sanction of probation plus psychiatric treatment, while Joseph A. Massa Jr., chief counsel for the JCB, recommended a removal from bench.

KANSAS  

Bond denied for area lawyer in child sex case

By Joe Lambe & Mark Morris, The Kansas City Star

07-23-10 -- When it came to a request for bond Friday, it did not matter that the defendant was a prominent lawyer and son of a retired appeals court judge. . . . A federal judge in Kansas City denied bond for Samuel P. Logan after hearing evidence that his alleged attempt to entice a minor had escalated. . . . With sex toys and pornography in his car, he went to Oak Park Mall and approached a 14-year-old girl who looked like the one he thought he was corresponding with online, prosecutors said. In reality, prosecutors said, he had been corresponding with undercover officers. . . . Logan, a partner in an Overland Park law firm, is charged with attempting to entice a minor and with sending and receiving child pornography. . . . Federal prosecutors Thursday charged Logan, 45, of Kansas City in federal court in Kansas. Federal judges in Kansas quickly recused themselves, and the case is now in federal court in Kansas City.

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MINNESOTA   

Attorney Aaron Biber pleads guilty to having sex with 15-year-old boy

KARE

07-20-10 -- A prominent Twin Cities attorney pleaded guilty Tuesday to having sex with a teenage boy, on the day jury selection was to begin in his criminal trial. . . . Forty-seven-year-old Aaron Biber of Shorewood entered his guilty plea to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for soliciting a boy for sex. A second criminal count was dropped. . . . Biber told the judge he chose to plead guilty because he didn't want to put his family or the family of the teen through a court trial. Sentencing will be imposed at a later date. State guidelines call for Biber to serve between 12 and 18 years, but Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says he will call for an upward departure. Freeman says he will ask a judge to sentence Biber to up to 23 years in prison.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Panel to consider punishment for 'stalking' judge

By Mark Scolforo, (AP)   Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 

07-20-10 -- An Erie-area district judge could face removal from the bench or other punishment by a judicial ethics panel meeting Tuesday over stalking behavior it has already ruled was antithetical to how a judge should act. . . . The Court of Judicial Discipline hearing follows a 20-page order issued in June that described North East District Judge Gerard L. Alonge's behavior toward four female lawyers and one other woman as "bizarre and weird" and "conduct akin to 'stalking.'" . . . The June order said the 51-year-old judge called the women repeatedly _ often at night, even after being told to stop _ and appeared uninvited at their homes or offices. He learned intimate details of their private lives that the court said suggested he had investigated them. . . . "This is beyond unsettling _ this is scary," wrote Judge Joseph M. James for the seven-member court.

CALIFORNIA  

Ex-Contra Costa prosecutor accused of rape wants new judge

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times San Jose Mercury News  

07-17-10 -- A former Contra Costa County prosecutor accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague with an ice pick in 2008 wants the judge removed from the case, asserting the judge knows too many people connected with it. . . . In a legal motion, a lawyer for Michael Gressett, 53, suggests poisonous ties between retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carlos Ynostroza and potential witnesses at a criminal trial. Among the group is Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, who likely will be called to testify in a criminal trial along with her brother, Contra Costa district attorney candidate Dan O'Malley, according to the motion. . . . Gressett's lawyers have subpoenaed the phone records of both O'Malleys in an attempt to discredit his accuser, known in court records only as Jane Doe. . . . Gressett's defense is expected to lean on claims of lies and conflicting statements by Jane Doe, whose father — another likely witness — knows both the judge and Nancy O'Malley, the motion contends.

INDIANA  

Attorney Facing Sex Charge Brings Curtain Down on Campaign for Prosecutor

By The Associated Press, New York Lawyer

07-15-10 -- A southwestern Indiana attorney facing charges that he had sex with a female client for her to pay off a $550 debt for legal work has withdrawn as a candidate for county prosecutor. . . . William Wallace of Princeton says he is innocent of the charges but that he decided to end his campaign so he wouldn't hurt his fellow Democrats in the November election.

IOWA  

Peeping Tom Attorney's License Suspended

Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal

07-09-10 -- Note to attorneys: Peeping into the windows of unsuspecting people is not a good way to hang onto your law license. . . . The Iowa Supreme Court last week suspended the license of a non-practicing attorney who pleaded guilty to six counts of invasion of privacy after he was caught repeatedly looking into the windows of a Des Moines home occupied by several women. . . . The court suspended Mark A. Templeton's license with no possibility of reinstatement for three months. The ruling was more lenient than the recommendation of the Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board, which suggested suspension with no chance of reinstatement for two years. . . . Templeton, who graduated from Drake University Law School and got his law license in 1987, practiced until 2000, when he began working in newspaper distribution, according to the court ruling. It was while making newspaper delivery that he became aware of the home where three single women lived.

NORTH CAROLINA  

Former Person DA pleads guilty to harassing women

WRAL.com 

07-08-10 -- The former district attorney for Person and Caswell counties pleaded guilty Thursday to inappropriately touching and kissing women and using dismissed cases to win votes in his re-election campaigns. . . . Joel Brewer pleaded guilty to seven counts of assault on a female and one count each of impersonating a law enforcement officer and willfully failing to discharge duties. . . . "I want to, with deep remorse, apologize to the people involved here," a shaken Brewer said in court. "I also apologize to this community and my family and friends." . . . Cabarrus County Chief District Judge William Hamby Jr., who was brought in from outside to handle the case, sentenced him to 105 days in prison, which was suspended to three years on probation. Hamby also ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service. . . . The maximum jail time Brewer could have received for the nine misdemeanors was 120 days.

MISSISSIPPI  

Panel alleges judge reduced fine for sexual favors

WLBT

07-06-10 -- A judicial watchdog panel says a Lincoln County judge should lose his job for offering to reduce a fine in exchange for sexual favors. . . . The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance recommended to the state supreme court Tuesday that Justice Court Judge Ralph Boone be removed from the bench and assessed costs of almost two-thousand dollars.

June 2010

INDIANA  

Gibson Co. lawyer indicted on child porn & prostitution charges

Posted by Rachel Folz, WFIE

06-16-10 -- A Gibson County Grand Jury indicts an attorney on prostitution, child pornography and obstruction of justice charges. . . . According to a release from Indiana State Police, William Wallace, 57, of Princeton, was indicted for allegedly having sex with a former female client to pay off a debt for work he performed in a 2009 civil case. . . . In March of 2009, the victim, 30, reported the alleged crime and ISP started an investigation.

Ind. attorney charged with taking sex as payment

Associated Press,  Chicago Tribune 

06-16-10 -- A southwestern Indiana attorney has been indicted on charges that he had sex with a female client for her to pay off a $550 debt for legal work in a civil case. . . . Authorities say the state police investigation of 57-year-old William Wallace of Princeton began when the woman reported that Wallace had shown her boyfriend a video of their sexual encounters. . . . Special Prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst said the woman told investigators she never gave permission for videotaping.

NORTH CAROLINA  

Fayetteville lawyer accused of sexually harassing clients

Web Editor: Anne Johnson, WRAL.com

06-14-10 -- The North Carolina State Bar is investigating a Fayetteville lawyer after three former clients accused him of sexually harassing them. . . . The women allege that attorney William E. Brown touched them sexually, tried to convince them to have sex with him and made inappropriate comments of a sexual nature to them. . . . One woman said that Brown asked her to have sex with him at their first meeting. Another said that he sent her inappropriate text messages that were sexual in nature. . . . Brown denied all of the allegations.

GEORGIA  

DA: Deputy caught judge, public defender having sex

By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

06-13-10 -- An investigation has revealed a former Fayette County judge had a sexual relationship with a public defender who had 225 cases decided in his courtroom. . . . Chief Superior Court Judge Paschal English and Kim Cornwell, an assistant public defender, were caught having sex in a parked car in October 2008, according to documents released Friday by District Attorney Scott Ballard. . . . A Fayette sheriff's deputy recognized English, and later learned that Cornwell was a public defender, Ballard said. The deputy's dashboard camcorder recorded part of the incident, but that video is no longer available, according to Sheriff Wayne Hannah. No charges were filed after the incident. . . . "Beyond that, we don't know when the intimate relationship began," Ballard said Friday. . . . After the two were discovered in the Water Lake subdivision, Cornwell represented defendants in 225 cases in Judge English's courtroom, Ballard said.

LOUISIANA   

Suit Revived Against Law Firm Over Partner's Alleged Rape of Receptionist

Court cites firm's unconventional atmosphere, which included partner's habit of walking to office sauna while wearing only a towel

Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal

06-11-10 -- A Louisiana appeals court has revived a civil suit brought by a receptionist against the law firm where she used to work and where she alleged that she was raped by a partner. . . . The receptionist, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, seeks to hold the two-partner Hawkins & Villemarette firm liable for the assault. The alleged perpetrator -- name partner Scott Hawkins -- pleaded guilty to second-degree battery. . . . A trial judge granted summary judgment to the defendants in early 2009, but the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal reversed on Wednesday. It ruled, 4-1, that the plaintiff could sue for negligence because she had been a client of the firm as well as an employee. The firm has disbanded and Hawkins' law license was suspended in January 2009. . . . The court cited testimony from former employees that the Lafayette, La., firm's office atmosphere was anything but conventional. For example, there was a sauna in the office.

WEST VIRGINIA   

State lawyer loses licenses over inmate liaison

By The Associated Press, Charleston Gazette

06-11-10 -- A shocked West Virginia Supreme Court has annulled the law license of a one-time state official caught receiving a sexual favor from an inmate. . . . Thursday's unanimous ruling said G. Patrick Stanton Jr. pretended to be the woman's attorney to obtain a one-on-one visit with her at the Pruntytown Correctional Center. . . . Stanton had previously represented inmate Rose Auvil. Following the October 2005 incident, he resigned as head of the state insurance commissioner's consumer advocacy office. He had held the post for less than three months.

LOUISIANA   

Attorney from LA resigns after allegations of sexual contact w/ teen girl

KSLA

06-08-10 -- A longtime prominent attorney has resigned his position in the Louisiana Bar Association, following allegations of sexual contact with a teenage girl. . . . The U.S. Supreme Court reports that 80 year-old Bob Goodman will resign to avoid disciplinary action from the board.

OKLAHOMA  

Ex-Oklahoma Judge Out Of Jail Following Arrest

Associated Press,  News On 6  

06-08-10 -- A former Creek County judge is out of jail after his arrest on a warrant for allegedly failing to make court-ordered payments in his case. . . . A Creek County jailer said Tuesday that Donald Thompson paid a $2,000 bond and was released after his arrest on Monday.

06-07-10 -- Related Story: Arrest Warrant Issued For Former Creek County Judge

KANSAS  

Wichita attorney charged with sex crime

By Stan Finger, The Wichita Eagle 

06-04-10 -- A Wichita attorney whose clients have included people charged with sex offenses faces a sex crime charge himself. . . . Sean E. Shores has been charged in Sedgwick County District Court with aggravated indecent liberties with a child and faces a preliminary hearing later this month. . . . A crime is alleged to have occurred on Dec. 5 against a 12-year-old girl, court records show. . . . Shores made his first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court on Thursday, with his preliminary hearing set for June 17. He was released on $20,000 bond.

ARIZONA  

Justice of the Peace candidate charged with child prostitution

by JJ Hensley, The Arizona Republic

06-03-10 -- Israel Correa, a candidate for Justice of the Peace in downtown Phoenix, is the subject of an 18-count indictment alleging sexual conduct with a minor, child prostitution and solicitation of child prostitution. . . . Correa's most recent indictment came less than a week after a Maricopa County Attorney filed a direct complaint alleging six counts of sexual conduct with a minor. . . . The allegations have not yet derailed Correa's attempt to become a Justice of the Peace in the downtown district. . . . Correa filed the required paperwork by a late-May deadline and his most recent legal problems won't affect his candidacy unless he's found guilty. . . . The 18-count indictment handed up on May 28 include allegations that Correa engaged in sexual conduct with four underage boys, including one who is under age 15. The indictment also attaches allegations of child prostitution to Correa's involvement with the boys, along with an allegation that Correa wrote bad check to one of the victims.

MINNESOTA   

Judge Denies Attorney’s Motion to Dismiss Criminal Sexual Conduct Charge

Biber argued he wasn't in position of authority

by Tim Blotz / FOX 9 News

06-03-10 -- A Hennepin County judge has denied a motion to throw out a sexual assault charge against a prominent Twin Cities attorney. . . . Aaron Biber is charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct and solicitation of a minor. . . . The criminal complaint alleges that in early October of 2009, a teenage friend of the family spent the night at Biber’s house where Biber got the boy drunk and slept with him. The complaint also alleges that Biber sent the boy sexually explicit images of himself to the boy’s cell phone and asked the boy to send back similar pictures of himself. . . . A key component of charging Biber with criminal sexual conduct in the first degree is that he must have been in a position of authority over the boy.

NEW YORK  

76-Year-Old Lawyer Suspended for Sexual Misconduct

By Nate Raymond | New York Law Journal | New York Lawyer

06-02-10 -- A personal injury lawyer who was caught on tape making unwelcome sexual advances to a client has been suspended from practicing law for six months. . . . Allen H. Isaac, 76, avoided the harsher five-year suspension sought by a hearing panel and total disbarment sought by the Departmental Disciplinary Committee. The committee had charged Mr. Isaac with acts of professional misconduct after he allegedly asked a client for oral sex and made inappropriate comments about the judiciary, much of which the client secretly caught on tape. . . . The Appellate Division, First Department, cited Mr. Isaac's age and "long and unblemished record practicing law" in suspending him for only six months. It rejected Mr. Isaac's argument that a public censure was appropriate as his testimony and arguments before the court revealed "a disturbing lack of comprehension as to the depth and extent of his misconduct." . . . Mr. Isaac, who was admitted in 1958, declined comment. His lawyer, Richard Godosky of Godosky & Gentile, did not respond to a request for comment. Alan Friedberg, chief counsel for the Departmental Disciplinary Committee, declined comment on Matter of Isaac, M-2029, 2671. . . . The former client who first complained about Mr. Isaac, Luisa Esposito, called the six-month suspension "an absolute joke." . . . "The man should have been disbarred, period," she said.

May 2010

OHIO

Fremont attorney is suspended

High court cites sexual comments, advances to women

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, Blade Staff Writer   

05-26-10 -- A Fremont lawyer has been barred from practicing law indefinitely after the Ohio Supreme Court found he engaged in sexual misconduct toward clients, including a teenage girl and a woman going through a divorce and custody battle. . . . According to court documents, Andrew Lockshin, a practicing attorney since 2002, made numerous unsolicited and inappropriate sexual comments and advances in his dealings with various female clients and others. . . . Among the victims was a 17-year-old girl held at a juvenile detention center, whom Mr. Lockshin was appointed to represent. Mr. Lockshin allegedly played "footsie" with the girl, sent her sexually charged instant messages, and asked her personal questions.

ILLINOIS  

Lawyer Suspended Over DUI Arrests & Secret Sex Tapes

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

05-19-10 -- An Illinois attorney has had his law license suspended for two years over a combination of admitted misconduct, including two drunken-driving arrests and videotaping five women in sexual activities at his home without their consent, according to the State Journal-Register. . . . Nick Burgrabe, 52, formerly worked as a Lincoln city attorney and a Logan County public defender, as well as in private practice. The videos came to light as he and his wife were divorcing. . . . He refused to identify the five women, but said three were former clients and one was a former secretary in his Lincoln law office, according to a Jan. 5, 2010 report and recommendation by the Review Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. It can be found by searching the IARDC website. . . . The last videotape was made more than a decade ago, the report says.

GEORGIA  

Cops: Cobb attorney put camera under woman's desk

By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

05-17-10 -- A Cobb County attorney has been arrested for allegedly putting a surveillance camera under a woman's desk. . . . A female employee of Merritt & Tenney L.L.P. noticed the device earlier this week and called Cobb County police. The man, James Frederick Tenney of Marietta, turned himself in Friday afternoon, according to Sgt. Dana Pierce. . . . Tenney faces three counts of unlawful surveillance for apparently recording the woman three different times, Pierce said.

MISSOURI  

Former prosecutor gets two years in child porn case

By Robert Patrick, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

05-12-10 -- A lawyer and former area prosecutor was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday — less than half of the prison sentence he could have faced — on a child porn charge. . . . George Richard "Dick" Fox, 68, pleaded guilty in February to a single count of possession of child porn. . . . Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Costantin said that Fox spent more than a year searching and viewing child porn, including some that featured children as young as a year old, and dozens of images showing children engaged in sex acts. . . . He told the FBI that he was curious and that he didn't think that viewing the porn harmed anyone, she said.

NEW YORK  

Judge Accuses Wheelchair Bound Lawyer Of Sex Crime

Reported by Barbara Nevins Taylor, Myfoxny.Com

05-12-10 -- A man bound to a wheelchair, who can't even feed himself, is charged with sexual harassment against a judge. . . . Cheecho Mertsaris is accused of sexual abuse, although he can't control his arms, his legs, or his hands. He has cerebral palsy because his brain was damaged during his delivery at birth. . . . His father and an aide help him with almost everything, even eating. . . . The thinking park of Mertsaris' brain works fine. He moves his head to manipulate a computer. He graduated from college and earned a law degree. . . . Mertsaris works as a lawyer at the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He handles cases involving taxi drivers. . . . Last October, a TLC judge accused Mertaris of grabbing her upper thigh and buttocks while they were in the office alone. His aide had gone to file papers. . . . His arms and hands tend to flail around and that's where the trouble started. When people get too close to him, Mertsaris tends to get nervous and he has more trouble controlling his arms. . . . He says his arm moved and hit her. He says he did not intend to touch her.

April 2010

ALABAMA  

Attorney guilty on 11 child porn counts

By Matt Elofson, Dothan Eagle

04-29-10 -- A Dothan attorney was found guilty on 11 child pornography possession charges on Thursday afternoon. . . . A jury began deliberating around 2 p.m. on the charges filed against Randy Brackin, a 62-year-old former Dothan lawyer. The verdict was reached around 3:30 p.m. . . . Houston County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Brackin in February 2009, and charged him with 11 felony counts of child porn possession. . . . “They’re the most valuable asset a country has, little children. Those children continue to be victimized every time those pictures are viewed,” Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska told jurors. “A man who was an attorney in this circuit who took an oath to follow the law, has a major major problem, I would say he is sexual pervert.”

PENNSYLVANIA  

Downtown attorney pleads guilty to child porn charges

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

04-28-10 -- A Downtown attorney pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography Tuesday in federal court. . . . James C. Kuhn III, 64, of Brackenridge, admitted to subscribing to a paid online service on Dec. 11, 2006, and paying $99 to download pornographic images of children. . . . According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman, Mr. Kuhn made such a payment eight more times before agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched his law offices on the Boulevard of the Allies on Oct. 4, 2007.

ALABAMA  

Secretary testifies against attorney in child porn case

By Matt Elofson, Dothan Eagle

04-27-10 -- A woman testified Tuesday that she saw her former employer, a Dothan lawyer, looking at child pornography in his office. . . . Autumn Davis testified in the trial against Randy Brackin, 62, who faces 11 felony child pornography charges. Brackin formerly served as an attorney in Dothan, and Davis formerly served as his secretary. . . . Davis said she not only saw Brackin looking at child pornography in the office, but she also found child pornography on a portable jump drive for a computer he’d given her. She also said the jump drive included at least one documented will of Brackin’s relatives. . . . Houston County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Brackin in February 2009. . . . Davis said she started working for Brackin in March 2008, but quit in late January 2009. . . . “He would be looking at pornography when I would come into the office,” Davis said. . . . Davis said she also saw Brackin looking at child pornography at least once while in the office. . . . “I remember one very clearly,” Davis said. “It was a little girl probably about 4 or 5, and she had on a little sundress that she had pulled up. I’ll never forget what I saw.”

GEORGIA  

Not a 'Survivor': Another Ga. Judge Resigns

Ed Bean, Fulton County Daily Report

04-27-10 -- Griffin Circuit Chief Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English Jr. has tendered his resignation in a letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue. The resignation is effective April 30. . . . In the three-sentence letter obtained by the Daily Report, dated April 23, English, 66, told Perdue, "It is with great remorse that I tender my resignation, but it is time for me and my family to concentrate on a different direction in our lives." . . . English's abrupt resignation comes on the heels of another Griffin Circuit judge's resignation amid an investigation by the Judicial Qualifications Commission. Fayette Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. resigned April 19 after the JQC began investigating allegations that the judge had sexually harassed an attorney who appeared in his court. Caldwell resigned in a handwritten, seven-line note he wrote after talking to a JQC investigator, who then hand-delivered it to the governor's office.

GEORGIA  

Judge Resigns in Wake of Sexual Harassment Claims

R. Robin McDonald, Fulton County Daily Report

04-26-10 -- An attorney's allegations of sexual harrassment against a Fayette Superior Court judge apparently led to his abrupt resignation last week during an interview with an investigator with the state Judicial Qualifications Commission. After Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. of Georgia's Griffin Circuit scrawled a seven-line resignation on his judicial stationary last Monday, he handed it to Richard Hyde, an investigator with the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, who delivered it to Gov. Sonny Perdue later that day. . . . Attached to the resignation was a separate, handwritten consent order -- accepted and signed by Hyde -- in which Caldwell wrote: "I hereby agree to never seek or accept judicial office again." . . . The condition never to seek or accept a future judicial post is one the JQC generally imposes on judges who are the subject of an investigation but resign before the agency issues charges. Last December, the JQC filed charges against Appalachian Circuit Superior Court Judge Oliver Harris "Harry" Doss Jr. after he resigned midway through a JQC investigation but, according to Doss and his attorney, refused to sign an agreement that he would never again seek or accept a judicial post.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

SEC Lawyer Watched 8 Hours of Porn a Day Amid Financial Crisis

By Molly McDonough, ABA Journal

04-23-10 -- Republican criticism of the Securities and Exchange Commission has heated up following allegations that senior staff, including a senior attorney in the SEC's Washington, D.C., office, spent hours surfing porn sites from their government computers. . . . California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told the Associated Press that it's "disturbing that high-ranking officials within the SEC were spending more time looking at porn than taking action to help stave off the events that put our nation's economy on the brink of collapse." . . . Issa was responding to an SEC inspector general memo obtained by the AP. The memo, which was requested by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, reported on probes of 33 employees who looked at explicit images over the past five years. Most of the reported probes were during the last 2 1/2 years during the heart of the nation's financial crisis.

OREGON  

Sex comments force Springfield judge to quit

A Springfield justice of the peace accused of making sexually offensive comments to her staff has resigned.

By The Associated Press, Seattle Times  

04-20-10 --  A Springfield justice of the peace accused of making sexually offensive comments to her staff has resigned. . . . Lane County officials and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski confirmed receipt of Cynthia Sinclair's resignation letter, The Register-Guard newspaper of Eugene reported Tuesday. . . . Sinclair, 58, had been elected three times and served 13 years in the position that does not require a law degree. . . . The resignation follows a three-month investigation that determined Sinclair made unwelcome sexual comments to court clerks "with such frequency that it permeated their work environment." . . . Sinclair was known for her colorful statements dramatizing the dangers of the minor offenses she handled, from speeding to truancy. But five female clerks banded together in December to complain to county officials about those comments, as well as sexually oriented statements aimed toward them.

NEW JERSEY  

N.J. Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

Sentencing scheduled for July 12; state AG says she'll recommend a five-year prison term

Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal

04-13-10 -- Neil Cohen, a New Jersey lawyer who served for 16 years in the state Assembly, pleaded guilty Monday to endangering the welfare of a child by distributing child pornography, a second-degree crime that will send him to prison and most likely get him disbarred. . . . Cohen, 59, admitted to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Gerald Council that he viewed child pornography images on a computer in his 20th District legislative office in Union Township and printed copies that he put in the desk of a female receptionist. . . . The plea agreement calls for Cohen to be permanently barred from public employment or elected office, and he will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

OKLAHOMA  

Ex-GC of Oklahoma Bar Reprimanded for Alleged Groping Incident

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

04-07-10 -- The former general counsel of the Oklahoma State Bar has been reprimanded in connection with allegations that he groped and bit a woman in a suite at a racetrack and casino. . . . Dan Murdock had entered an Alford plea to a reduced misdemeanor charge of outraging public indecency in the case last October. The plea does not admit the facts but acknowledges there is enough evidence to persuade a jury of guilt. . . . The Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected a lesser sanction of a private reprimand, the Legal Profession Blog reports.

March 2010

PENNSYLVANIA 

Phila. attorney charged in int'l child-sex case

By Michael Hinkelman, Philadelphia Daily News  

03-31-10 -- Authorities unsealed an indictment yesterday charging a Philadelphia international attorney with traveling overseas to have sex with an underage boy. . . . Kenneth Schneider, 45, was arrested by Interpol in Laranca, Cyprus, on Saturday. . . . Schneider founded the Apogee Foundation in New York in 2004. It provides scholarships and assistance to children around the world with aptitude in fine arts. He's also president and chief executive officer of a London-based media and technology-consulting group. . . . But the indictment said Schneider had a secret life and a fondness for a Russian boy.

NEW YORK  

Pimp Daddy, Attorney at Law: NY Lawyer Admits Running Bordello

By Noeleen G. Walder | New York Law Journal | New York Lawyer

03-24-10 -- A tax attorney accused of running an unlicensed strip club in Manhattan pleaded guilty yesterday to promoting prostitution in the third degree, a felony. . . . According to the Manhattan district attorney, Louis Posner, who was arrested in July 2008 following a raid on the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, allowed a number of the dancers to have sex with customers. The indictment alleged that the club, run by Mr. Posner, 53, and his wife, Betty, frequently took in more than $20,000 a night (NY Lawyer, Sept. 5, 2008).

CONNECTICUT  

Attorney Accused -- Again -- of Trading Legal Services for Sexual Favors

Torrington, Conn., lawyer faces sanctions after two women make allegations

Douglas S. Malan, The Connecticut Law Tribune

03-22-10 -- Ethics rules allow lawyers to take payment in different forms from their clients -- cash, check, credit card. A naked back rub is not one of the options. . . . When Torrington, Conn., attorney Ira S. Mayo allegedly offered to waive a client's fees in exchange for a massage, he triggered an investigation that seems to have jeopardized his law license over an encounter with a woman -- again. . . . Mayo's case is before Middletown Superior Court Judge Robert L. Holzberg, who is consulting with chief disciplinary counsel Mark Dubois and Mayo's attorney, Michael Fasano Sr., about possible sanctions against Mayo. . . . This is familiar territory for the 45-year-old Mayo. In September 2005, his license was suspended for 15 months for making unwanted sexual advances toward clients who were referred to him by the Susan B. Anthony Project for abused women.

OHIO  

West Chester lawyer loses license

By Janice Morse • Cincinnati.com

03-17-10 -- The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended the law license of a West Chester lawyer as a result of his criminal convictions. . . . In a decision released Wednesday, John R. Andrews received an indefinite suspension of his Ohio law license following his convictions on a felony charge of attempted tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor charge of attempted importuning of sexual activity with a minor. . . . The court also agreed with a state attorney-discipline board that concluded that Andrews "neglected and later improperly withdrew from representation of a church board in a civil action," a news release from the court says. . . . Because Andrews failed to exchange required information with opposing parties and also failed to inform his clients about the status of their case, the church leaders' complaint was dismissed without their knowledge and a judge ordered the church to pay damages of more than $9,000 to the opposing party, the news release said.

INDIANA  

Indiana attorney arrested and charged with distributing child pornography

ethiopianreview.com

03-12-10 -- A local attorney accused of possessing and distributing child pornography was arrested and charged in federal court Tuesday. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). . . . Samuel Hasler, 50, of Anderson, Ind., was arrested March 9 and charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. . . . According to the criminal complaint, Hasler allegedly distributed multiple images of child pornography via the Internet in December to a person in another state. On Feb. 14, Hasler sent additional images of child pornography from his computer to a police officer working in an undercover capacity. . . . On March 9, ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at Hasler’s law office in Anderson. During the search, agents recovered images and videos of child pornography contained on an external hard drive in Hasler’s law office. The complaint does not allege that Hasler produced the child pornography.

IOWA  

Floyd County attorney battles ethics complaints

By Dennis Magee, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

03-07-10 -- Since becoming Floyd County attorney, Jesse Marzen has worked under a cloud: His law license could be suspended or revoked because of an ethics complaint pending before the Iowa Supreme Court. . . . According to court records, the review has its roots in allegations Marzen exchanged sex for legal services while representing Victoria Nehls. She was one of Marzen's clients when he worked as a private attorney in Charles City. . . . "When it comes to that, I'm not making any comments about anything. There are rules of confidentiality involved in those processes, and I'm just not going to comment about anything on that subject," Marzen said during an interview in October. . . . During a five-month review of public records and through dozens of interviews, an investigation by The Courier has looked into the ethics complaint and also found other issues related to Marzen's performance as county attorney.

UTAH  

Lawsuit against judge filed / Allegation: Craig Storey's sexual harassment was 'blatant and aggressive'

By Tim Gurrister, Standard-Examiner staff 

03-07-10 -- A long-anticipated lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by Judge Craig Storey has been filed in federal court. . . . Marcia Eisenhour, Storey's chief administrator in the Weber County Justice Court, accuses the judge of two years of unwanted sexual attention. . . . The key evidence is a mildly erotic 11-page love poem Storey wrote to her. . . . Allegations first came to light in August after a Utah Judicial Conduct Commission closed-door meeting where commissioners opted against any public reprimand of Storey. . . . The complaint against the judge was filed with the commission by the Weber County Attorney's Office. . . . That office now, ironically, will be tasked with defending the latest lawsuit, which names Storey and the county as defendants. . . . After the conduct commission's inaction, an angry Eisenhour and her attorney, Brenda Beaton, went public, detailing their allegations in the media and releasing the poem. . . . The rambling, rhyming poetry is the first among 10 specific incidents of sexual harassment listed in the lawsuit filed Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

SOUTH CAROLINA   

Conway attorney facing indecent exposure charges suspended by state bar

Tonya Root - thesunnews.com   

03-05-10 -- A Conway attorney facing four charges he exposed himself to people on two occasions has been suspended by the S.C. Bar Association. . . . Jefferson Marion "Buddy" Long, 49, of Myrtle Beach, was placed on interim suspension on Monday, according to the bar’s Web site. Additional details about the suspension were not listed. . . . Long was in court on Monday as part of an arraignment for a defendant he represented before Circuit Court Judge Larry Hyman. . . . Long was arrested on Jan. 27 and Nov. 24 on four counts of indecent exposure, according to court records. Police said he exposed himself to several people at his home and his business.

MINNESOTA   

Ex-county attorney charged in dressing room photo case

03-01-10 -- The man photographed by surveillance cameras after an incident in a Minneapolis dressing room is a former county attorney, according to police. . . . Former Morrison County Assistant Attorney Jeff Rolloff is accused of trying to take a photo of a woman while she tried on clothes at the Nu Look consignment store at 4956 Penn Avenue S. in November.

February 2010

MICHIGAN  

Guilty: Former city attorney sex assault plea

Carl Gabrielse gets six months in prison

By Megan Schmidt, The Holland Sentinel  

02-25-10 -- The former deputy attorney for the city of Holland could lose his license to practice law after pleading guilty to a felony sex charge on Wednesday. . . . For now, Carl Gabrielse’s attorney’s license will likely remain suspended until a state attorney grievance commission begins discipline proceedings. . . . “The discipline could be anything from a public reprimand, which doesn’t interfere with the ability to practice law but is a public notice you’ve done something improper, up to revocation of the license,” said Patrick McGlinn, senior associate counsel for the Attorney Grievance Commission, an arm of the Michigan Supreme Court that handles allegations of attorney misconduct. ***** He admitted to sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Zeeland woman in a Holland District Court bathroom after telling her he would reduce her charge in exchange for sex.

NEW JERSEY  

Montclair lawyer is charged in Internet sex sting after detective poses as 14-year-old girl

By James Queally/The Star-Ledger

02-25-10 -- A 58-year-old man was arrested Wednesday and charged with trying to set up a sexual encounter with someone who he believed was a 14-year-old Queens girl he met over the internet, but was actually a New York City detective, authorities said. . . . Barry Schrager, 58, of Upper Montclair, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree attempted sexual assault, second-degree attempted criminal sexual act, first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors and attempted endangering the welfare of a child, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. . . . Investigators said Schrager sent several sexually explicit instant messages to the detective, whom he believed was 14-year-old girl, between Jan. 25 and Feb. 23.

CALIFORNIA

Former prosecutor, accused of rape, wants judge off the case

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times

02-19-10 -- The former Contra Costa County prosecutor accused of raping a junior colleague in 2008 asked the judge to take himself off the case Friday, after Judge Carlos Ynostroza refused to allow him the court-appointed lawyer of his choice. . . . Ynostroza, a visiting judge from Alameda County, declined the informal request, and put off Michael Gressett's arraignment to March 12 while higher courts settle who will represent him. Gressett, 53, a longtime prosecutor and three-time District Attorney candidate, was fired last year from his $160,000-a-year job. . . . A grand jury in October handed up an indictment accusing Gressett of 13 felony counts of rape, sodomy and other crimes in the alleged sexual assault of a female prosecutor who no longer works in the county. Authorities claim Gressett took her back to his Martinez condo during lunchtime, handcuffed and repeatedly raped her, using the handle of an ice pick and holding a small handgun. . . . Gressett, who insists the sex was consensual, remains free on $1 million bail.

MASSACHUSETTS   

SJC tosses lawyer’s drugs-for-sex verdict

By Scott J. Croteau, Telegram & Gazette Staff

02-19-10 -- The state Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a lower court ruling vacating a 2005 drugging-for-sexual-intercourse conviction against a Gardner lawyer. . . . Suspended lawyer Gary R. LeBlanc was convicted Oct. 20, 2005, of two counts of rape, indecent assault and battery, cocaine distribution and providing alcohol to a minor, after a trial in Worcester Superior Court. He was also convicted of drugging for purposes of sexual intercourse. . . . The Appeals Court vacated the conviction on the drugging for purposes of sexual intercourse charge and affirmed the conviction on the other charges. That decision was made in February 2009. . . . The Worcester district attorney’s office then asked for a Supreme Judicial Court review. . . . Mr. LeBlanc, now 56, had been charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old Gardner High School senior on Feb. 2, 2004, after plying her with cocaine and alcohol in his Gardner home.

WISCONSIN    

Appleton defense lawyer Thomas Zoesch faces sexual assault charges

The Post-Crescent

02-17-10 -- A prominent Appleton defense attorney charged with sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend threatened to “knock her teeth out” if she tried to leave during the encounter, prosecutors said today. . . . The Wisconsin Department of Justice is handling the prosecution of Thomas J. Zoesch because he has worked extensively in the Outagamie County criminal justice system. He appeared Wednesday in Outagamie County Court for the entering of charges, including two counts of second-degree sexual assault. . . . Zoesch, 64, was arrested Monday in Grand Chute after he refused to leave the home of the woman he’s charged with assaulting. The woman, who recently dated Zoesch, told officers that he forced her into sexual activity at her home and at his Appleton home the day before.

WASHINGTON   

Richland lawyer admits to chat room sex crime

By Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer

02-12-10 -- A Tri-City lawyer is behind bars for telling a state trooper who was posing as a 13-year-old girl in an online chat room that he wanted to make sex videos with her. . . . Mark Lane Bunch, 34, was caught after being tracked down through his screen name. . . . Bunch was a Washington state assistant attorney general in the Kennewick office when he committed the crime, though it reportedly was done on his personal time at home. . . . He now works as legal counsel for Energy Northwest, which operates the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant, but he has been on administrative leave for more than six weeks. . . . The Richland man checked himself into the Benton County jail at 10:21 p.m. Wednesday to begin serving a 10-day sentence. He must do five days on straight time or work release, then he can do the remaining time on work crew, according to prosecutors. . . . Bunch pleaded guilty Feb. 3 in Benton County Superior Court to communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, a misdemeanor. . . . The description of the charge is that he "contacted an individual in a chat room who identified herself as a 13-year-old girl and made sexual comments and propositions, and that communication was through the sending of an electronic communication."

SOUTH DAKOTA  

Sioux Falls lawyer's child pornography case moved to Minnesota

John Hult • Argus Leader

02-10-10 -- A Sioux Falls lawyer indicted on child pornography charges will be tried in Minnesota, according to a press release from the federal prosecutor's office. . . . Leo T. Flynn, 61, faces two counts of distribution of child pornography across state lines, but the U.S. Attorney's Office recused itself from the case.

TEXAS  

Federal Jury Convicts Former El Paso Criminal District Court Judge Manuel Barraza

Department of Justice Press Release

02-04-10 -- United States Attorney John E. Murphy and David Cuthbertson, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation–El Paso Division, announced that a federal jury this morning found former El Paso Criminal District Court Judge Manuel Joseph Barraza, aka Manny Barraza, guilty of charges related to a bribery scheme. . . . The jury convicted Barraza of two counts of wire fraud and the deprivation of honest services and one count of making false statements. The jury acquitted Barraza of one count of mail fraud. . . . Evidence presented during trial revealed that beginning on or about December 2008 and continuing and including February 26, 2009, Barraza solicited, agreed to accept, and accepted bribes in the form of cash money. He also solicited sex and agreed to accept a bribe of engaging in sexual activity with women. These acts were all committed in exchange for his influence and exercise of discretion in his official capacity as an elected judge. In carrying out his bribery scheme, Judge Barraza promised to intervene in a felony criminal case filed by the State of Texas pending in state district court in order to influence the outcome of the case.

NORTH CAROLINA  

Local lawyer accused of inappropriate conduct

By Drew Brooks, FayObserver.com Staff writer

02-03-10 -- A local lawyer could face discipline from the N.C. Bar after being accused of trying to have sex with a client. . . . A complaint filed against William E. Brown in late December alleges he made comments of a sexual nature to a client and made it known he wanted to have sex with her. . . . The complaint stems from a client Brown was appointed to represent in April 2008. He represented the woman from April 2008 until Sept. 30, 2008.

January 2010

OHIO  

Attorney declines to contest accusations

By Kristina Smith Horn • Watchdog/enterprise reporter

01-29-10 -- Andrew Lockshin knows the state Supreme Court likely will suspend his law license after former clients said he made sexual advances toward them. . . . Lockshin, 33, admits that in some cases -- which include those involving a 17-year-old client, a witness and a Sandusky County sheriff's deputy -- he behaved inappropriately. . . . So he agreed when his attorney, Alvin Matthews Jr. of Columbus, advised him not to object to a disciplinary board's recommendation that the Supreme Court indefinitely suspend him from practicing law in Ohio. Thursday was the deadline for Lockshin to object. . . . "I apologize to the people I've hurt," he said Thursday. "I take responsibility for my actions. I'm happy to move forward and get this all behind me." . . . Next, the high court will decide whether to follow the recommendation. Lockshin said he expects the court to take three to four months before it makes a decision.

DELAWARE  

Delaware crime: Ex-judge admits molesting boy

William C. Bradley's statement part of lawsuit settlement

By Sean O'Sullivan • The News Journal

01-22-10 -- Standing in front of the building where William C. Bradley Jr. had been a judge until last week, attorneys Thursday handed out a one-page, two-sentence statement from the former jurist admitting he molested an 11-year-old boy more than 30 years ago. . . . For Gregory Kelly, now 44, it was the vindication he has been seeking for decades. . . . More than 20 years ago he told his family about the incident and about 12 years ago unsuccessfully tried to get the Delaware Attorney General's Office to investigate, he said. . . . Then in April 2009, Kelly filed his civil lawsuit through the Delaware Child Victims Act on his own after several Delaware attorneys declined to take up the suit against a sitting judge. . . . "This case should serve as a model of courage and persistence for all victims of crime, especially sex crimes," said Brian D. Kent, a Philadelphia attorney who agreed to represent Kelly in federal court after the suit was filed. "He was determined to seek justice for the heinous actions perpetrated against him as a young boy. And he has been successful."

PENNSYLVANIA  

Erie Lawyer Barred For Sex Crime Wants Reinstated

(AP),  KDKA

01-22-10 -- An Erie attorney suspended for pleading guilty to indecently assaulting an 18-year-old man he had plied with alcohol wants to practice law again. . . . Fifty-one-year-old Dan Susi tells the state's Office of Disciplinary Counsel that he and his fiance have a daughter, and he wants to practice law to provide for them.

TEXAS   

What Again?: Rookie Judge Filmed Taking Cash (Could Have Been Worse - FBI Says He Also Traded Sex to Fix Cases)

By The Associated Press | New York Lawyer

01-22-10 -- Prosecutors played video showing money changing hands in the federal trial of a judge in El Paso accused of offering court favors in exchange for cash and sex. . . . State District Judge Manuel Barraza on Thursday was seen in the video, at his courthouse office, accepting almost $5,000 from the sister of an inmate facing drug charges.

MISSOURI  

Teens sue former US attorney over molestation

Associated Press, KOAM-TV

01-20-10 -- Two young men are seeking $10 million in damages from former U.S. attorney Eric Tolen who is serving a 65-year sentence for sex crimes involving teenage boys. . . . The plaintiffs are described in a lawsuit filed this week in St. Louis County as 18-year-old males from Granite City, Ill., and Hazelwood, a suburb of St. Louis. . . . KSDK reports their suit alleges that 48-year-old Tolen intended to do them bodily harm.

OHIO  

Alleged sex advances have lawyer in trouble

By Kristina Smith Horn • Watchdog/enterprise reporter

01-13-10 -- A Fremont attorney may be suspended indefinitely from practicing law in Ohio after former clients, including a 17-year-old girl, said he made sexual advances toward them. . . . The Board of Commissioners on Grievance and Discipline of the Supreme Court of Ohio recommended Wednesday that the Supreme Court indefinitely suspend Andrew Lockshin. He has been a lawyer since 2002 and handles court-appointed criminal cases in Sandusky, Ottawa and other area county courts. . . . "We're pleased with the result," said Cathleen Bolek, an attorney who, on a volunteer basis, represents the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, which argued the grievance against Lockshin. "This was a troubling case to pursue."

MICHIGAN  

Judge throws out obstuction of justice charge against former assistant prosecutor

By Steve Zucker, Petoskey News-Review Staff

01-11-10 -- A judge recently threw out an obstruction of justice charge issued last year against a former Charlevoix County assistant prosecutor, but the Emmet County Prosecutor’s office is appealing the decision. . . . On Dec. 14, 90th District Court Judge Richard W. May dismissed the five-year felony charge and another misdemeanor charge against Brian Matthew Seelye, 32, of Boyne City, citing insufficient evidence. . . . Police arrested Seelye, who worked as an assistant prosecutor in Charlevoix County from 2002 through early 2005, in late August. . . . The charges stemmed from a 2006 Michigan State Police investigation into a sexual assault. . . . Seelye was accused of advising Dustin Hunt, the suspect in the assault, to destroy any computer evidence Hunt might have had of his relationship with the 15-year-old victim.

CALIFORNIA

Former Contra Costa prosecutor, facing rape charges, keeps fighting for lawyer

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times, Tri-Valley Herald

01-08-10 -- The high-profile case against a former Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor accused of raping a colleague last year during a lunch break remains in limbo as he fights to regain his attorney at taxpayer expense. . . . Michael Gressett, 52, has claimed he can no longer afford a lawyer, and the Contra Costa public defender's office agrees, but also claims a conflict related to his 23 years as a county prosecutor — as does the alternate public defender. . . . Gressett hoped to have one of his original attorneys, Daniel Russo, assigned to his case through a county conflicts panel, but Judge Carlos Ynostroza, a visiting judge from Alameda County, rejected that request. . . . An appeals court on Wednesday dismissed Gressett's petition to force the court to appoint Russo. In court Friday, Gressett's recently appointed lawyer, Michael Kotin, said he planned to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

WISCONSIN    

Disbarred lawyer won't get license back

By Bruce Vielmetti of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

01-08-10 -- A former Milwaukee alderman and lawyer convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child won't be getting his law license back, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. . . . Jimmie G. Davison, 73, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1992 for raping an 11-year-old girl. In 1999, he was convicted of assaulting his wife during a prison work release visit and sentenced to an additional six years. . . . After he got out of prison, Davison petitioned for the reinstatement of his law license. The court agreed with a referee that Davison had failed to show that his conduct since disbarment has been "exemplary and above reproach," that he has the moral character to practice, or that granting him a license would not be "subversive to the public interest." . . . For good measure, the court hit Davison with the costs of his reinstatement proceedings - about $9,000.

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December 2009

CALIFORNIA  

Lawyer keeps license 2 months after rape conviction

By Jennifer Muir, OCRegister  

12-30-09 -- Newport Beach first amendment lawyer Paul E. Fisher was first charged with raping a severely drunk teenage girl in 2007, and he pleaded guilty to the assault in October. . . . But Fisher’s law license remained intact until this past Sunday — more than two years after the felony charges were filed and two months after he was convicted. . . . That’s because the state bar court generally doesn’t take up criminal cases until after they’re resolved in criminal court. . . . “The feeling is that we would be interfering in the criminal process,”said Nancy McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the California Bar Association, which is charged with protecting the public by investigating and prosecuting complaints against lawyers. . . . Fair enough: The Watchdog understands protecting a person’s innocence until he’s proven guilty. But the criminal charges weren’t even noted on the state bar’s website. That means that a potential client checking out Fisher’s record with the bar association would never know he was charged with rape.

SOUTH CAROLINA   

Conway attorney charged with indecent exposure

Continuous News Desk, South Carolina Now  Updated: December 23, 2009

12-23-09 -- A Conway attorney faces two charges of indecent exposure, after he exposed himself while at his law firm. A Conway Police report shows, J.M. “Buddy” Long III, 49, of Myrtle Beach was charged on Nov. 19 with two counts of indecent exposure related to two separate incidents. . . . A female worker at J & J cafeteria told police on Nov.16th she was outside on a smoking break, when she saw a man at J.M Law firm standing naked in the doorway.

NEW YORK  

Lawyer who advised state senator gets 57 months for child porn

By Timothy O'Connor • The Journal News | LoHud.com

12-22-09 -- A lawyer who used to advise a state senator will spend nearly five years in a federal prison for having more than 40 images of child pornography on his computer, a federal judge ruled Monday. . . . Robert Groezinger, 54, of Route 311, Patterson, was sentenced by Judge Stephen C. Robinson in U.S. District Court in White Plains to 57 months behind bars. . . . The judge also ordered Groezinger to register as a sex offender. . . . "Every instance of viewing these types of child pornography represents a new violation ... of the victims," Robinson said as he sentenced Groezinger. "That for me is very significant."

TEXAS  

Attorney convicted in sex scandal denied appeal

by KENS 5 Staff

12-22-09 -- The attorney who was tried and convicted of squeezing money out of men his wife slept with was arrested by Bexar county Sheriff's deputies again Monday night. . . . . That's when 53-year-old Ted Roberts' appeal was denied. . . . . Roberts was convicted of second degree felony Theft $100,000 to $200,000 after his March 2007 jury trial. . . . . He was sentenced to five years in prison.

TEXAS  

Can court curb randy attorneys?

By Rick Casey, Houston Chronicle Commentary 

12-20-09 -- Friday's column was about the Texas Supreme Court's Christmas gift to Texans: The return of citizens' right to freedom of speech even if they want to complain about their lawyer. . . . Previously, citizens who filed complaints with the State Bar were told they couldn't talk to anyone about their problems with the lawyer or even that they had filed a complaint. . . . The Supreme Court has also prepared what might be better characterized as a Valentine's Day gift. . . . It unanimously approved a change in the State Bar's disciplinary rules that would prohibit sex between a lawyer and his or her client unless they were already involved in a sexual relationship. . . . Actually, the rule won't be finalized by Valentine's Day. A public comment period ends New Year's Eve. There could be significant revisions of this and a broad range of proposed changes by the time the state's lawyers vote on the issue, possibly in June. . . . That's right. The lawyers themselves must approve the new rule.

TEXAS  

Woman testifies judge sought relationship

By Brian Rogers Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

12-15-09 -- Harris County Court-at-Law Judge Donald Jackson told a 28-year-old woman with a pending drunken driving case that he could get her a lawyer who could win her case if she became interested in him, but that if she did not, she would be convicted, the woman testified Tuesday. . . . Jackson is on trial for misdemeanor official oppression, accused of propositioning Ariana Venegas in February. . . . “He said, ‘Let me put it to you bluntly, I'm interested in you. I don't want a one-night stand, I want a relationship.' ” Venegas, 28, said on the witness stand. . . . “He told me that if I wasn't going to get interested, that I would get convicted because he's the judge.” . . . Earlier in the day, jurors heard Jackson tell his side of the story on a tape secretly recorded by an investigator who spoke to the judge in his chambers.

ALABAMA  

Former Alabama lawyer's sex abuse verdict upheld

Associated Press, Montgomery Advertiser 

12-14-09 -- An appeals court judge has upheld the conviction of a former Athens attorney and accountant for sexually abusing two girls. . . . John Hamilton McLain V was convicted in February of sexual abouse involving a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old. . . . He was arrested in July 2008 after he admitted he picked up the girls near a mall and drove them to his Athens home.

MICHIGAN  

Suspended "Couch Of Restitution" Attorney Says He Is Too Old For Allegations To Be True

Erin Geiger Smith, The Business Insider

12-10-09 -- Earlier this month we were introduced to the phrase "couch of restitution." . . . That is what two women told the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board that attorney Murdoch Hertzog, 83, called his sofa when offered for them to trade sex for payment for his legal services. . . . An additional woman testified that she, at his request, performed oral sex on Hertzog in order to pay for his services. After he sent her an invoice, she complained to the attorney grievance commission. . . . Hertzog was suspended from practicing law for 180 days. He must apply to be reinstated.

MICHIGAN  

Lawyers Behaving Badly: The "Couch Of Restitution"

Erin Geiger Smith, The Business Insider 

12-2-09 -- The lore of the casting couch has made its way to the legal profession. . . . Michigan attorney Murdoch Herzog received a 180-day suspension from practicing law last month.  . . . The disciplinary investigation began over Herzog's failure to report pleading guilty in 2001 to a misdemeanor conviction for assault and battery in exchange for the dismissal of charges on fourth degree criminal sexual assault. . . . But the disciplinary administrator's complaint also included allegations that Herzog had improperly touched female clients and suggested to two a somewhat creative way for them to pay their legal bills.

November 2009

MICHIGAN  

Former city attorney could face 20 years in prison

Gabrielse charged with criminal sexual conduct

By Megan Schmidt, The Holland Sentinel

11-19-09 -- A former city attorney accused of sexually assaulting a woman last month in a Holland District Court bathroom could face up to 20 years in prison. . . . Carl Gabrielse, 30, was arraigned on charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a 15-year felony, and misconduct in office, a five-year felony, in Grand Haven District Court on Thursday. . . . Gabrielse was fired from law firm Cunningham Dalman on Nov. 6, where his duties included work as deputy city attorney, following allegations he told a woman he’d reduce her charge in court in exchange for sex.

VIRGINIA  

Bias Complaint Against Williams Mullen Alleges Cucumber Prank

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

11-12-09 -- A former case manager for the Richmond, Va.-based Williams Mullen law firm has filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint that claims she was subjected to derogatory remarks and a prank involving a cucumber. . . . The 18-year employee, Hanh Nguyen Allgood, seeks $950,000 in the federal suit filed in Norfolk, Va., Style Weekly reports. Above the Law also covered the story and posted a copy of the complaint (PDF).

TEXAS  

Lawyer in sex scandal: 'I was as badly hurt as a person can be'

by Deborah Knapp / KENS 5

11-10-09 -- It was a story that made headlines and had the city buzzing. . . . Two high profile lawyers involved in a sex scandal with allegations of extortion. . . . Now one is heading to jail and the other is on probation. For the first time, the man at the center of the scandal is talking. . . . It began when Ted Roberts says he discovered his wife was cheating on him by meeting men online thru a website that offers adults discreet sexual liaisons. . . . "I discovered she was having multiple liaisons. I was in pain. I was as badly hurt as a person can be at least in my heart. I decided to pursue legal action as opposed to any of the other traditional actions," Roberts said. . . . While many spouses would divorce a cheater, Roberts said he and his wife Mary decided to stay together because they had a 5-year-old son. Roberts says the affairs came to a stop when he confronted his wife and he denies they were working together to set men up and blackmail them. . . . "That is complete fantasy," he said.

MICHIGAN  

Woman files personal protection order against deputy Holland City attorney she alleges traded sex for reduced plea

By John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press

11-9-09 -- A 21-year-old Zeeland woman has filed a personal protection order against a deputy Holland City attorney she alleges had sex with her for a reduced plea on a drunken driving charge. . . . The woman filed the protection order Friday in Ottawa County Circuit Court, seeking to keep Carl Gabrielse, 30, away from her. . . . In the complaint, she alleges the sex with Gabrielse was not consensual. . . . "The respondent has sexually assaulted me," she wrote. . . . Gabrielse has not been arrested or charged with any crime, although the Holland law firm where he works fired him Friday. The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department is investigating the alleged incident.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Lawyer Faces Suit for Allegedly Using Young Boy Dancer as Sex Slave

By Shannon P. Duffy | The Legal Intelligencer | New York Lawyer

11-5-09 -- A Chester County lawyer who heads an international arts foundation has been accused in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing a Russian boy whose ballet career he was supporting and allegedly using the threat of cutting off the boy's funding to keep the sexual relationship going from the time the boy was 12 until he was 17. The Russian man, now 23, who is identified in court papers only as "John Doe," claims in the suit that attorney Kenneth Schneider offered in the mid-1990s to act as his patron when he was accepted at the age of 10 to study at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow. Also named as defendants in the suit are Schneider's parents, Bernard and Marjorie Schneider, and sister, Susan Schneider — all members of the Apogee Foundation board — for allegedly playing roles in assisting Kenneth Schneider with keeping the sexual relationship with the boy a secret.

CALIFORNIA  

Sacramento attorney sentenced in fondling case

The Associated Press, San Jose Mercury News

11-4-09 -- A Sacramento divorce attorney accused of fondling five female clients is going to prison. . . . Fifty-eight-year-old Gary Appelblatt was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday after pleading no contest to four counts of sexual battery and one count of attempted sexual battery. The judge also ordered him to register as a sex offender. . . . Authorities say Appelblatt molested the women during divorce consultations by pretending he was a pharmacist and wanting to examine their health. He allegedly used a stethoscope to check their breathing and performed or tried to perform breast exams. . . . Several of Appelblatt's alleged victims told the court he took advantage of their vulnerability.

TEXAS  

Trial Delayed for Texas Judge Accused of Seeking Bribes, Sex

The Associated Press, Law.com

11-4-09 -- The federal court trial of an El Paso County state judge accused of offering to trade sex and cash for help with felony cases has been postponed until January. . . . State District Judge Manuel Barraza faces four counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud and lying to a federal agent. His trial was set to start Monday, but was delayed until Jan. 19 after his defense lawyers argued that they haven't had enough time to review evidence turned over by the government less than two weeks ago.

October 2009

SOUTH CAROLINA   

Deputy Assistant AG Fired After Being Caught in Cemetery With Stripper

Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press

10-29-09 -- A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired, his boss said Wednesday. . . . Roland Corning, 66, a former state legislator, was in a secluded part of a downtown cemetery when an officer spotted him Monday, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. . . . . As the officer approached, Corning sped off, then pulled over a few blocks away. He and the 18-year-old woman with him, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club, gave conflicting stories about what they were doing in the cemetery, Officer Michael Wines wrote in his report, though he did not elaborate.

WASHINGTON   

Convicted Pierce County judge could lose job

The Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of patronizing prostitutes and threatening to kill one man remains free while awaiting sentencing on Nov. 19.

The Associated Press, Seattle Times        

10-29-09 -- The Pierce County Superior Court judge convicted of patronizing prostitutes and threatening to kill one man remains free while awaiting sentencing on Nov. 19. . . . As a first-time offender, Judge Michael Hecht faces zero-to-90 days in jail. . . . The News Tribune of Tacoma reports he also remains on paid leave from the job that pays $148,000 a year. . . . Hecht could be removed after an investigation by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct that will hold a Feb. 22 hearing in Seattle.

ILLINOIS  

Attorney Charged With Posting Ad Seeking 'Secretary With Benefits'

Posted by Bruce Carton, Law.com Legal Blog Watch

10-22-09 -- To borrow a line from Martin Landau's Bob Ryan character on the HBO show "Entourage," what if I was to tell you about an Illinois Disciplinary Commission complaint against an attorney who allegedly attempted to hire a secretary whose duties would expressly include sexual interaction with him and his partner, and that as part of the interview process the candidate would be required to perform for them sexually? . . . Is that something you might be interested in? . . . The Legal Profession Blog reports here on this bombshell of a complaint over the attorney's May 2009 ad for a secretary/legal assistant. The ad was curiously posted in the "Adult Gigs" section of the classified advertisements on Craigslist, and was entitled, "Loop lawyers hiring secretary/legal assistant."

PENNSYLVANIA  

Settlement has been reached in Marshall lawsuit

By Peter Panepinto, The Daily Collegian Online  Staff Writer

10-19-09 -- An undisclosed settlement has been reached in the lawsuit against former Centre County Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall, who was accused of offering court favors in exchange for sex. . . . Marshall, Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira and Centre County were sued in February by a woman involved in a domestic abuse incident. She alleged that Marshall sent her more than 250 explicit text messages and voicemails in 2008, according to court documents. The lawsuit also states Marshall intercepted her phone conversations and solicited sex for court favors. . . . Joseph Green, the attorney representing Centre County, said the terms of the settlement are confidential but emphasized the county didn't have to pay any monetary compensation.

ALABAMA  

Thomas Faces Three Alleged Victims

By Rob Holbert and Pete Teske, Lagniappe Web Exclusive

10-13-09 -- Former Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas faced some of his accusers for the first time Tuesday, as three alleged victims told stories of Thomas beating them with his belt and making sexual advances toward them. . . . Thomas sat stoically through the second day of his trial on more than 60 criminal counts, ranging from kidnapping to extortion to assault and sodomy. He is alleged to have victimized 14 men who claim he threatened them with longer jail sentences if they would not allow him to spank them with either a paddle or a belt. Thomas is also accused of forcing the men to have oral sex with them and touching them inappropriately with his hands and penis.

DELAWARE  

Delaware Law Firm Hit With Sexual Harassment Suit

Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer

10-8-09 -- A recently filed sexual harassment suit against a Wilmington, Del., law firm is garnering attention not only because it's chock-full of salacious details, but also because both the plaintiff and the alleged harasser are female lawyers. . . . In the suit, attorney Jennifer Braude of Philadelphia claims that during the 18 months she spent as an associate at Maron Marvel Bradley & Anderson, she was subjected to a "hostile environment" due to the sexually charged conversations initiated by her direct supervisor, Meredith Sossman. . . . Sossman, who is now an assistant vice president at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law, declined to be interviewed about Braude's allegations, saying, "It would not be appropriate to comment." Sossman is not named as a defendant in the suit. The defendant is the law firm.

TEXAS  

Court Deals Setback to Attorney Convicted in Sex Scam

Mary Alice Robbins, Texas Lawyer

10-8-09 -- Ted Roberts, the San Antonio attorney convicted of theft-related charges for threatening litigation to extract money from two men who had sexual liaisons with his then-wife in 2001 and 2002, has failed to persuade the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to review his case. Without issuing an opinion, the CCA on Wednesday refused Roberts' petition for discretionary review. . . . In March 2007, a 226th district court jury in San Antonio found Roberts guilty on two counts of theft and one count of a continuing course and scheme to commit theft of $100,000 with regard to two of the four men with whom Roberts' then-wife Mary had affairs. However, the jury found him not guilty of the alleged threats of litigation against two of the men. He had threatened to file petitions under Rule 202 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure for possible suits against all four men. . . . In June 2007, district court Judge Sid Harle sentenced Ted Roberts to five years in prison on each of the three charges, with the sentences to run concurrently.

TEXAS  

Depositions Set in Sex Harassment Suit Against Gordon & Rees, Managing Partner

Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer

10-5-09 -- Depositions are scheduled this month in a "sex discrimination and sexual harassment" suit against Gordon & Rees, which has Texas offices in Dallas and Houston, and the former partner-in-charge of the Dallas office. . . . The suit was filed by a former firm administrator in Dallas. Alissa Brackin alleges in her First Amended Petition filed in state district court in Dallas on Aug. 11 that partner Matthew Murphey, who formerly managed the Dallas office, "intentionally and/or knowingly physically touched Brackin in an offensive and provocative manner" and he should have known she would have regarded that physical contact as offensive or provocative. . . . She alleges the conduct sometimes occurred in the presence of other Gordon & Rees employees, and, because of that, Murphey's conduct was "known, tolerated and ratified" by Gordon & Rees management and/or officers and directors.

ALABAMA  

Ex-Ala. judge accused of trading sex for leniency

By Phillip Rawls, Associated Press Writer, Breitbart

10-4-09 -- Herman Thomas was a rising star in Alabama politics with an enviable track record at the polls: a black Democrat who kept getting elected in a county overwhelmingly white and increasingly Republican. He seemed to have it all. Respect as a circuit judge and at one time the Democratic Party's choice to be the first black federal judge in south Alabama. . . . Then his career on the bench collapsed—first under allegations that he was bringing inmates into his office and spanking them with a paddle, then with an indictment that accuses him of having sex with male inmates in exchange for leniency. The trial—on charges of sodomy, kidnapping, sex abuse, extortion, assault and ethics violations that involved oral and anal sex, as well as the spankings—is set to start Monday. *************Thomas, who was known for wearing distinctive bow ties, stepped down from the bench in 2007 after the allegations of paddling surfaced and just ahead of a judicial ethics trial that could have forced him out of office. He was indicted on the more-serious charges this past spring by a Mobile County grand jury. If convicted of the most serious charges—sodomy and kidnapping—he faces from 20 years to life in prison.

September 2009

NEW YORK  

Lawyer guilty of sex with client

By Carol DeMare, Albany Times Union Staff writer

9-24-09 -- A City Court jury found a former assistant public defender guilty late Tuesday of having sex with a client in return for promising to work harder on her case. . . . The six-member panel convicted Matthew Swedick, 39, of one misdemeanor count of official misconduct. He was acquitted on two other counts of the same charge. . . . The case against him goes back two years when he was assigned to represent Latoya Gorton on drug charges following an April 2007 raid on the Albany home Gorton shared with a boyfriend. . . . Gorton testified when the attorney-client relationship started Swedick essentially told her he would work harder, prioritize her case and treat her as a private-paying client if she engaged in sex with him. Those allegations constituted criminal activity because of Swedick's role as an attorney on the public payroll, Special Prosecutor Michael Koenig said.

MAINE   

Asst. Attorney General indicted for child porn!

LawyerGossip

09-18-09 -- Former assistant attorney general, James M. Cameron, 46, has been indicted on 16 counts of child pornography! . . . James M. Cameron was in charge of all of Maine’s drug prosecutors until they realized he was the one who needed prosecuting and fired him in April of 2008. He was fired when it made news that he was being investigated for child porn. . . . Can you blame the state for firing him? Here he is prosecuting people for pulling a mushroom out of the ground and smoking it, when he’s allegedly doing something 100 times worst! By purchasing child porn, you’re paying for a child to be raped. It’s that simple. Child porn is not just a bunch of pictures of children standing around nude. It’s children being raped. And why are they photographing children being raped? – Money. That’s what it comes down to. They’re raping these kids and photographing it just to sell the pics to perverts for money. If nobody bought the porn, the children wouldn’t be raped. So, this is a very serious crime. If it’s true, then that means that this prosecutor payed for children to be raped by downloading it. . . . A grand jury returned a 16 count indictment against Cameron for transporting, receiving and possession of child porn.

OREGON

Attorney general bars Clackamas County judge from child-welfare cases

By Steven Mayes, The Oregonian

9-16-09 -- Oregon's attorney general Wednesday formally called for a Clackamas County judge to be removed from child-welfare cases, saying "the lack of a fair and impartial forum is interfering with the ability of the state to protect Oregon's children." . . . Judge Deanne Darling, who made headlines last year when she ordered the state to bail out a child-rape suspect, said she would cooperate with the request to ensure a smooth transition. . . . Attorney General John Kroger's action may be unprecedented. . . . "I am not aware of the attorney general's office ever taking such a step," said spokesman Tony Green. The action applies to child dependency cases involving the state Department of Human Services. . . . Caseworkers and prosecutors have repeatedly bumped heads with Darling, the county's main juvenile court judge and the one who decides who gets custody of abused or neglected children.

TEXAS  

Conduct Commission suspends Judge Jackson

By Brian Rogers Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

9-8-09 -- A Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law judge accused of official oppression will continue to draw his $140,000 annual salary while his case is pending, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled Tuesday. . . . Donald Jackson, 59, was suspended with pay after being indicted last month on charges that he offered to help a defendant in his court in exchange for a sexual relationship. . . . In the brief order, the commission references the indictment and says the suspension will remain in effect until further notice.

WASHINGTON   

Pierce judge faces biggest trial

Courts: Jury selection begins today for Michael Hecht, accused of harassment, paying prostitute

Sean Robinson; The News Tribune | • The Olympian

9-8-09 -- Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht starts the fight of his life today. . . . Hecht is charged with felony harassment and patronizing a prostitute. The street-level description cuts deeper: He’s accused of paying one man for sex multiple times, and threatening to kill another whom he suspected of spreading rumors. . . . Elected in August 2008, Hecht, 58, has been on paid leave since the charges were filed in March. His annual salary is about $148,000.

OREGON  

Former Lebanon judge pleads guilty to sex abuse

By AnneMarie Knepper, for the Corvallis Gazette Times

9-1-09 -- A former Lebanon municipal judge was sentenced to 30 days in jail Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of misconduct, sex abuse and sexual harassment. . . . Larry Kenneth Houchin will spend five years on probation and must also register as a sex offender. As part of the plea deal, he was ordered to surrender his license to practice law, which he did Tuesday via fax. Houchin pleaded guilty to two counts of official misconduct, one count of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of sexual harassment. . . . The charges stem from incidents involving four Linn County women. . . . Three of the victims had been seen by Houchin in his court and said they were later forced to endure sexual advances and sexual touching. They said he visited them at their homes and workplaces, under the auspices of checking on them as a part of his job as judge. . . . The fourth victim, a Lebanon Police Department dispatcher, said he touched her inappropriately.

August 2009

TEXAS  

Judge in Houston allegedly solicited DWI defendant

© 2009 The Associated Press, Houston Chronicle

8-28-09 -- An indicted judge remained on the bench Friday after he was accused of offering help to a woman charged with driving while intoxicated if she had a continuing sexual relationship with him. . . . A Harris County grand jury Thursday indicted 59-year-old Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Donald W. Jackson on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression. Jackson was freed on $1,000 bond. . . . His attorney, Clay Rawlings, said his client will plead not guilty. If convicted, Jackson could face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. . . . According to the indictment, Jackson offered to get the woman a different attorney to get her case dismissed if she would "enter into a relationship with him that was more than a one-night stand."

OHIO  

Attorney who taped neighbors having sex loses his law license

CantonRep.com staff report

8-20-09 -- Caught two years ago making audio recordings of his neighbors having sex, a local attorney had his law license indefinitely suspended Thursday. . . . Aaron A. Ridenbaugh, who has been under interim suspension since February of last year, can seek reinstatement but must show proof of continuing psychiatric therapy and compliance with substance abuse treatment, the Supreme Court of Ohio said in a statement. . . . Jackson Township police arrested Ridenbaugh in May 2007. At the time, he was working at a law firm in Cuyahoga Falls as a bankruptcy attorney and lived in apartments on Foxhaven Avenue NW.

CALIFORNIA  

Divorce attorney pleads no contest to fondling clients

By Andy Furillo, sacbee.com

8-18-09 -- A Sacramento divorce lawyer is looking at a probable 18-month prison term for fondling female clients under the guise of giving them medical exams. . . . Attorney Gary M. Appel- blatt pleaded no contest Monday to four felony counts of sexual battery and one count of attempting to touch one of his clients improperly. . . . "I think to me the most important thing is that lawyers are in a position of trust with their clients," Deputy District Attorney Keith Hill said after Appelblatt entered his pleas in Sacramento Superior Court. "I think he violated that, and I think he deserves the punishment he is going to get."

MINNESOTA   

Minnetonka Defense Attorney Charged With Sexual Assault

By: Becky Nahm, KAALtv.com

8-12-09 --A criminal defense attorney from Minnetonka is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who tried to hire him to represent her. . . . Hennepin County prosecutors said DNA evidence ties Albert Arnold Garcia, 49, to the crime. They charged him with one count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree. . . . According to the criminal complaint, the woman contacted Garcia in August 2008. She needed legal representation on a court matter. She said he told her he would represent her for $2,500. . . . She told police she agreed to meet Garcia at a coffee shop, but he was late. She said he called and told her to meet him at his office instead. . . . She said at his office, they discussed her case. But then she said he wouldn't let her leave. She told police he backed her into a chair and sexually assaulted her.

ALABAMA  

Ex-Mobile Judge Herman Thomas arrested on new sexual misconduct charges

Posted by Gary McElroy, Staff Reporter

8-11-09 -Even more damning charges against Herman Thomas surfaced Monday after indictments based on the testimony of six new alleged victims accused him of forcing male inmates to have sex with him while he was a circuit judge. . . . The 48-year-old former Mobile County circuit judge surrendered at Mobile County Metro Jail about noon Monday. . . . After being booked, he was released on his own recognizance. . . . A special grand jury, which issued the 46 new charges Friday, recommended that in light of Thomas' existing bail of $287,500, it would be proper this time to allow him to sign his own bond, officials said. / (Read the new indictments.)

NEW YORK

Ex-Justice Tills given prison term in sex case

Federal judge calls women real victims

By Phil Fairbanks and Dan Herbeck Buffalo News Staff Reporters

08-08-09 -- Phrases like “human trafficking” and “sex trade” bring to mind tough, brutal images that are hard to believe about anyone. . . . When the accused is a well-respected judge, a jurist known for tough sentences, it becomes what his own attorney acknowledged Friday is a long fall from grace. . . . Ronald H. Tills, 74, a retired State Supreme Court Justice, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday, becoming the first person given jail time in connection with the continuing federal probe of the Royal Order of Jesters. . . . “I will never forgive myself for the possible harm I’ve caused to the victims in this case,” Tills told a packed courtroom. “I’m embarrassed, and I feel terrible about the shame I’ve brought to the bench and the bar.” . . . In sentencing Tills, U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny referred numerous times to victims in the case and at least twice mentioned one young woman by name.

UTAH  

Justice court judge accused of sexual harassment

By Tim Gurrister, StandardNet 

8-7-09 -- A court clerk will take to the federal level her accusations she was sexually harassed by Weber County Justice Court Judge Craig Storey after the state Judicial Conduct Commission this week took no action against the judge. . . . Over more than two years, Marcia Eisenhour accuses Storey of rubbing up against her and once telling her he dreamed of her naked from the waist up washing dishes in the court's break room. . . . In her complaint she alleges other behaviors by Storey, including monitoring her phone calls, asking co-workers for personal information about her and requiring her vacation requests be made to him directly with detail on where she was going, when and with whom. . . . A key piece of evidence is an 11-page, single-spaced, mildly erotic love poem Storey wrote to her.

MARYLAND   

Cambridge Lawyer Arrested on Sex Charges

Written by Kye Parsons, WBOC TV 16

8-4-09 -- Cambridge police say a city lawyer and former state Senate candidate is facing attempted rape and related charges after being caught in the act of attempting to rape a woman in his law office. . . . Cambridge police say that on Saturday, Aug. 1 at around 12:21 a.m., an undercover officer was on bicycle patrol in the rear parking lot of the south side of the 500 block of Poplar Street when the officer heard a woman yelling for assistance. . . . Police say the officer approached a rear window to a law office and observed a man, identified as 53-year-old Grason John-Allen Eckel, on top of a woman who was lying on a sofa and holding her down against her will.  . . . The officer forced entry into the law office and arrested Eckel without incident. 

UTAH  

Court clerk claims sexual harassment by Weber County Justice Court judge

Judicial conduct » Watchdog panel issues private reprimand.

By Stephen Hunt, The Salt Lake Tribune

8-4-09 -- Weber County Justice Court Judge Craig Storey's longtime court clerk says the judge admitted to some misconduct after she complained to the state's judicial watchdogs he had sexually harassed her. . . . But on Tuesday, she says, the Judicial Conduct Commission decided to admonish the judge in private and close the case. That prompted Marcia Eisenhour, 49, to go public with the incident, claiming while the judge is off the hook she is left to return to a hostile work environment. . . . Commission proceedings are secret unless the commission recommends public discipline and executive director Colin Winchester declined any comment. . . . But Ogden attorney Brenda Beaton told The Salt Lake Tribune that Storey, 55, admitted to the JCC that he wrote a sexually explicit poem about Eisenhour, described for her a dream in which she was washing dishes in the court's break room while naked from the waist up and that he had called and said he loved her after her father died.

FLORIDA  

State Attorney's Office settles 3 sexual harassment lawsuits

Plaintiffs claimed former State Attorney Steve Meadows sexually harassed, retaliated against them

By David Angier / News Herald Writer

8-1-09 -- The State Attorney’s Office settled three sexual harassment lawsuits for $75,000 each filed by employees against the previous administration. . . . Brenda Keys, Gena Duncan and Barbara Chase claimed that former State Attorney Steve Meadows sexually harassed and retaliated against them because of their complaints during his four years in office. Meadows took office in 2005 and served until January, after being defeated for re-election in November. . . . Keys’ and Duncan’s claims were investigated by the state Human Relations Commission last year, which found evidence to support their allegations and cleared the way for the lawsuits to be filed. The commission’s investigative report mentioned Chase, which allowed her to piggyback onto the report and file her own lawsuit. . . . Kyra Jennings, a state Department of Financial Services spokeswoman, said Friday the suits were settled for $75,000 each.

July 2009

NEW YORK  

Goldman Sachs Attorney Faces Sex Count

North Country Gazette

7-29-09 -- A Goldman Sachs attorney is accused of soliciting sex from an underage girl. . . . Todd Genger, 33, of 175 West 90th St., New York, was arraigned Tuesday on one count of attempted disseminating indecent material to a minor, a felony. . . . Prosecutors said for a three and one half month period from April 13 to July 27, an investigator from the Westchester County District Attorney’s office, while acting in an undercover capacity, assumed the undercover role of a 15-year-old female and engaged in a series of “chat” conversations with Genger via the Internet. . . . The investigator made it clear to the defendant that “she” was 15 years old, prosecutors said.

CALIFORNIA  

Sex-crimes lawyer charged in rape case fired

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

7-28-09 -- A Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor accused of raping a colleague while wielding a gun and an ice pick has been fired, his attorneys said Monday. . . .  Michael Gressett, 52, who says he and his 30-year-old accuser had kinky but consensual sex at his home in May 2008, was terminated last week by District Attorney Robert Kochly. He had been on paid leave since his arrest in October. . . . Gressett has also been accused of making inappropriate sexual comments at work and of having a small amount of marijuana that police found after raiding his home, said his employment attorney, Alison Berry Wilkinson. . . . Kochly said he could not comment on a personnel matter. Wilkinson said she appealed the firing, sending the case to arbitration.

FEDERAL COURTS

3rd Circuit Panel Dismisses Claims Against Kozinski for Sexually Explicit Material

Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer

7-2-09 -- The judicial misconduct complaint against 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has been resolved with a public admonishment but no discipline imposed on the judge for the sexually explicit material found on his family Web site. . . . A specially appointed 11-judge panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous 41-page opinion that said Kozinski "explained and admitted his error; apologized for it, recognizing its impact on the judiciary; and committed to changing his conduct to avoid any recurrence of the error." . . . Writing for the 3rd Circuit Judicial Council, Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica said the panel had dismissed claims against Kozinski relating to his assignment to handle an obscenity trial and his later his recusal from that case when news broke about the material on his Web site.

MASSACHUSETTS   

Former Bingham Associate Files Date Rape Suit Against Firm

Brian Baxter, The American Lawyer

7-1-09 -- Months after a Massachusetts state agency dismissed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Bingham McCutchen filed by a former associate, the firm has been slapped with a civil suit by Michelle Moor, who is seeking damages for allegedly being drugged at a holiday party by a Bingham staffer. . . . Courthouse News reports that Moor filed an 18-page complaint in Suffolk County Court in Boston last week alleging that she was drugged with Tegretol -- an anti-seizure medication that causes memory loss when mixed with alcohol -- while attending a lunch party with about 100 other Bingham employees at Lucia Ristorante & Bar in Boston's North End in December 2007. . . . The Am Law Daily reported on Moor's allegations in May 2008 when the former litigation associate claimed that during an office outing at another Boston restaurant called Grill 23 a month later, a litigation support employee told her that he liked to have sex with unconscious women and knew how to get "roofies," a slang term for the date rape drug Rohypnol. Moor also claims that at least one other female associate was drugged and raped by a Bingham employee the previous year.

NEW YORK  

Amherst attorney charged in attempted rape

Buffalo News

7-1-09 -- An attorney from Amherst has an Aug. 11 court date on attempted rape and two other felony charges following an incident two weeks ago at the home of a woman he knows. . . . Amherst police charged Philip R. Rothschild III, 46, with first-degree attempted rape, criminal sexual act, burglary, unlawful imprisonment and aggravated harassment after the June 17 incident, police said. He was arrested the next day.

June 2009

OKLAHOMA

Case against judge dismissed

Harris and the D.A.'s Office instead enter into a "deferred prosecution" agreement.

By Bill Braun Tulsa World Staff Reporter

06-16-2009 -- At a prosecutor's request, an indecent exposure charge against Tulsa County District Judge Jesse Harris was dismissed Monday. . . . Washington County District Attorney Rick Esser asked that the felony case be dismissed "for the reason that after review of all evidence it is in the best interest of justice," records show. . . . Pursuant to a request by the Tulsa World under the state Open Records Act, a document obtained from the Washington County District Attorney's Office shows that Harris, 54, entered into a "deferred prosecution" agreement with Esser's office. . . . That agreement — signed by Harris, Esser and two defense attorneys — states that "the accused" admits that he committed the offense of "gross injury of the public peace," a misdemeanor, and has provided a statement acknowledging that.

MINNESOTA   

Minneapolis cops bust 'nice guys' sex ring

In an unusual scheme, a former Hennepin County lawyer worked as a pimp, flying in high-dollar prostitutes for well-off men, police say.

By David Chanen, Star Tribune

6-10-09 -- They call themselves "The Minnesota Nice Guys," a group of at least 30 older, well-to-do men who police say share a common love of expensive prostitutes. Their alleged pimp is a former assistant Hennepin County attorney once responsible for locking up the justice system's most unstable criminals and protecting its youngest victims. . . . The Nice Guys have been enjoying the services of prostitutes for three years, police say, getting weekly e-mail blasts that advertise women who are flying into town from Florida and staying at some of Minneapolis' finest hotels. One woman, a 34-year-old former teacher from Colombia, averaged four appointments a day, charging her clients $500 an hour. . . . The Minneapolis Police Department's Violent Offender Task Force has been building a federal case against the organization for the past year. Investigators say it is one of the most unusual prostitution rings they have ever seen in Minnesota and that its activities show just how sophisticated sex-trafficking networks to the state are becoming. . . . "I don't know of anything this organized happening anywhere in the country," said Sgt. Matt Wente. "This was like a gun or fishing club to these men."

May 2009

VIRGINIA  

Lawyer Disbarred Following Arrest on Sex Charges

Jeff Jeffrey, The National Law Journal

5-29-09 -- Ronald M. Cohen, a former real estate lawyer in Arlington, Va., was disbarred by consent Thursday in an order handed down by the D.C. Court of Appeals. His license had already been revoked in Virginia. . . . Cohen’s disbarment follows his arrest last year for attempting to arrange sex with a minor over the Internet. According to court records, after engaging in several sexually explicit online conversations with someone he thought was a girl under the age of 15, Cohen set up a meeting, only to find police officers waiting for him when he arrived. . . . Cohen, 57, was charged with attempted indecent liberties with a minor and using a computer to solicit sex with a minor. He pleaded guilty to both charges in October. He was sentenced to one year in prison and five years of probation.

FLORIDA  

Former state attorney's investigator indicted for child porn

By Bob Hazen, WDBO Radio

5-27-09 -- A former top investigator with the Orange-Osceola County State Attorney's Office has been indicted for possessing child pornography. . . . 38-year-old Sean Peters was in federal court Tuesday to face the charges. The indictment does not provide many details, but alleges Peters "did knowingly possess material containing images of child pornography, that is, visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, which had been mailed, shipped, and transported in interstate and foreign commerce, that is, by computer over the internet."

NEW YORK  

Attorney Convicted of Sex Abuse for 'Cupping' Buttocks of Law Guardian

Daniel Wise, New York Law Journal

5-27-09 -- A 72-year-old lawyer was convicted last week after a three-day bench trial in the Bronx of sexually harassing a 34-year-old female law guardian during a family court proceeding in August. . . . Acting Supreme Court Justice James M. Kindler convicted the lawyer, Robert Kahn, of third-degree sexual abuse, a Class B misdemeanor. . . . Kahn was accused of "cupping the left side of [the law guardian's] buttocks" with his hand as she leaned over to retrieve a file from her briefcase, according to the Bronx district attorney's office. . . . Immediately following the conviction, Kindler sentenced Kahn to a non-jail sentence upon the condition that he attend a counseling program for sex offenders.

WASHINGTON   

Pierce County judge denies charges brought by state

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht has denied every charge brought against him by the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct, including that he has patronized prostitutes.

Associated Press, Seattle Times

5-11-09 -- Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht has denied every charge brought against him by the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct, including that he has patronized prostitutes. . . . In April, the commission formally charged Hecht with violating three canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct by allegedly exchanging cash and legal advice for sex, threatening two men, using racially insensitive language and engaging in unfair campaign conduct.

NEW JERSEY  

Former New Jersey Prosecutor Enters Plea Deal on Prostitution-Related Charges

Daniel Wise, New York Law Journal

 5-6-09 -- More than two years after being accused of operating a Manhattan-based call-girl ring, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney was allowed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts under a deal that resulted in no jail time. . . . Paul Bergrin, 53, who was a solo practitioner when he was indicted in 2007, faced a maximum sentence of 8 1/3 to 25 years if convicted on the top count against him, first-degree money laundering. In all, he was charged with six felonies and two misdemeanors. . . . Bergrin, a former prosecutor for Essex County and for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, was accused of taking over the operation of a $1,000-an-hour escort service called NY Confidential after its manager, Jason Itzler, was arrested in January, 2005.

NEW YORK  

Local defense attorney, musician arrested on felony charge

Garramone accused of sending sexual material to 16-year-old

By Rocco LaDuca, Observer-Dispatch

5-5-09 -- Local defense attorney and musician Devin Garramone has been charged with using his cell phone to send sexual images to a 16-year-old earlier this spring, according to investigators with the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center. . . . Garramone was arraigned this afternoon in New Hartford Town Court on one felony charge of first-degree disseminating indecent material to a minor, a class D felony. . . .He was released on his own recognizance to await a future court appearance.

CONNECTICUT  

Stamford attorney disbarred after attempted sex crime conviction

By Monica Potts, Staff Writer

5-2-09 -- A former Stamford-based attorney found guilty of trying to entice a 14-year-old Kentucky girl over the Internet and telephone was suspended from legal practice Thursday. . . . Brian O'Shaughnessy, 49, of 105 Field Brook Road, Madison, was barred from practicing law during his 1½-year prison term and 15 years of probation, which began Oct. 24, 2008. . . . On June 23, 2008, O'Shaughnessy, who managed human resources and legal issues for Howard Systems International in Stamford, pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor, risk of injury to a minor, attempted enticement of a minor and attempted risk of injury to a minor.

DELAWARE  

Delaware Chief Justice Defends Racy E-Mail Video

By Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

5-1-09 -- Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele is apologizing to anyone one who was offended by a racy video he sent to 38 male acquaintances using his state e-mail account. . . . The video shows two women competing for a man’s attentions by simulating oral sex with a wine bottle, according to the Delaware News Journal. Steele forwarded it with the message, "Write your own caption for this one." . . . Steele told the newspaper that he viewed the attachment as a harmless joke and he did not think it violated ethics rules requiring judges to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Most of those who received the e-mail were former clerks, he said, but some of the recipients also included lawyers, a judge and a businessman.

April 2009

DELAWARE

Top justice sent racy video to colleagues

Myron Steele used state e-mail to share video with 38 male friends, lawyers

By Maureen Milford • The News Journal

4-30-09 -- Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron T. Steele, the national face of Delaware's powerful and highly respected courts, used his state e-mail account Monday to send a sexually suggestive video to 38 men. . . . The e-mailed video obtained by The News Journal, called "Wine-Opener," depicts a professional-looking young woman in a bar competing with a glamorous blonde for the attention of a man by simulating oral sex with a wine bottle. Steele, who received the e-mail from a man, forwarded it with the message: "Write your own caption for this one." . . . Steele said Wednesday that he viewed the e-mail video attachment as a harmless joke that would not offend anyone.

FLORIDA  

Financial Ties to Stripper Finish Off Judge's Career

Christine Armario, The Associated Press

4-24-09 -- Thomas E. Stringer spent more than three decades quietly building his legal career in Florida, working his way up from an assistant state attorney to appeals court judge in the Tampa Bay area. In 2007, he was inducted into his law school's hall of fame. . . . Then last spring, the well-respected, married judge suddenly found his face splashed beside that of a troubled exotic dancer in a kimono. . . . She went on TV to claim they'd been romantically involved, and that he helped her hide money from creditors, even putting a rent-controlled New York City apartment under his name for her. . . . Newspaper columns were written. Jokes were made. Stringer's 35-year legal career was tarnished.

ALABAMA  

Ex-Judge Pleads Not Guilty to Courthouse Kidnappings and Sexual Assaults

By The Associated Press, New York Lawyer

4-22-09 -- Former Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas has pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of kidnapping, sodomy, sex abuse, extortion and ethics violations. . . . In a court filing Tuesday, Thomas waived his arraignment and submitted his plea in writing. He remains free on bond. . . . Defense attorney Robert Clark says Thomas will not seek to move his trial away from Mobile. Retired Marengo County Judge Claude Neilson will preside at the trial, expected to be held this fall. . . . Thomas is accused of paddling inmates from Mobile County jail and forcing them to perform sexual favors in exchange for leniency in the courtroom, but the former judge, who resigned from the bench in 2007 when the allegations first surfaced, has denied all of the charges.

Judge: Not Guilty In Kidnapping, Sex Abuse Of Inmates

North Country Gazette

4-22-09 -- It’s getting harder and harder to find any integrity in the judicial system as more and more prosecutors and judges are being arrested for not only misconduct but out and out corruption. . . . Former Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas has pleaded not guilty to 57 counts of kidnapping, sodomy, sex abuse, extortion and ethics violations.  The charges involve allegations that acting in his role of judge, he allegedly checked young males out of the Mobile County Metro Jail to exert control over them and force them into sexual activity in exchange for leniency in the charges they were facing in his courtroom.

ALABAMA  

Mobile attorney arrested on warrant from Texas charging him with indecency with child

By Associated Press

4-20-09 -- Mobile attorney and former FBI agent Phillip Kent Baxley has been arrested on a fugitive warrant from Harris County, Texas, accusing him of "indecency with a child." . . . Mobile police public information officer Corporal Charles Bagsby said Baxley was arrested at about 11 a.m. Monday at his law office on Dauphin Street in Mobile. . . . Bagsby said he had no further information on the charges against Baxley.

CONNECTICUT   

Lawyer Gets Prison In Child Porn Case

Staff and Wire Reports Connecticut Law Tribune

4-20-09 -- A lawyer from Orange has been sentenced to 5 ½ years in federal prison for operating a child pornography web site. . . . Forty-six-year-old Eric Gaynor, a solo whose law office was in New Haven, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in Hartford. Prosecutors say he ran a porn Internet site for two years that displayed images and offered to sell or rent videos of young boys who were naked, partially clothed or engaged in sexual activity. . . . Gaynor’s practice focused on landlord-tenant law, commercial and residential leases, real estate closings and vehicle accident injuries. He had served on the Connecticut Bar Association’s membership services committee, and at one point was the panel’s chairman. He also taught continuing legal education seminars for the CBA on landlord-tenant law. . . . His lawyer, Hugh O’Keefe of New Haven’s Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante, told the Law Tribune in January, when Gaynor pleaded guilty to a single count of receipt of child pornography, that Gaynor “was and is a highly reputed lawyer in the area and had a successful practice.”

PENNSYLVANIA  

Former Bucks County prosecutor to serve time in jail, not his house

Judge alters term for Bucks man at appeal of his sentence.

By Robert H. Orenstein | Of The Morning Call

4-8-09 -- A former Bucks County prosecutor and church youth group leader must serve time in jail rather than at home for corrupting minors and having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old boy. . . . Anthony Cappuccio was led out of a county courtroom in handcuffs Monday afternoon after Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. changed the initial sentence from three to 23 months of house arrest to six to 23 months in the county prison. . . . ''We believe that the sentence Â… provides a measure of justice to the victims,'' state prosecutor E. Marc Costanzo said Tuesday, whose appeal of the initial sentence led to Monday's hearing. ''I believe that the six months [in jail] is a reasonable sentence.''

TEXAS  

Feds Charge New Texas Judge in Sex & Bribes Case

By Martha Neil, ABA Journal

4-3-09 -- A Texas judge who has only been on the bench since January is now facing federal charges concerning the sex and bribes the FBI says he sought from defendants appearing before him in felony cases in El Paso. . . . District Judge Manuel Barraza, 53, is facing a four-count indictment that includes charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and lying to a federal agent, reports the Dallas Morning News. . . . Arrested at his home yesterday morning, he didn't enter a plea during a brief federal court hearing yesterday afternoon and is scheduled to be arraigned next week. He is currently released on $10,000 bond. . . . According to the indictment, an FBI agent working undercover and posing as a defendant in the judge's courtroom is among those Barraza allegedly solicited for sex, the newspaper reports.

March 2009

ALABAMA  

Local Attorney Sentenced in Sexual Abuse Case

Judge sentences John McLain to 6 years in prison, 14 years of probation

Amber Stuart WHNT NewsChannel 19 Reporter

03-13-09 -- A local attorney was sentenced Friday for his involvement in a sexual abuse case. The hearing was very heated. . . . John Hamilton McLain had a chance to apologize to the family of the victims, and started to cry as he pleaded with them and the judge that he only get probation because of his family situation at home. . . . The girls' parents told McLain he put the girls through hell the night he kept them for 12 hours. In the end, Madison County Circuit Court Judge Jim Smith sentenced McLain to six years in the state penitentiary and 14 years of probation. . . . McLain will also have to go through a sex offender treatment program and pay several fines.

ALABAMA  

Answers are overdue about former judge

AL.com Opinion

3-13-09 -- If the allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of prisoners made against former Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas aren't being investigated by someone, they should be. . . . If criminal charges are warranted, then charges should be filed as quickly as possible. If not, then whoever is or isn't investigating should clear Mr. Thomas officially. . . . In any event, the public is owed an explanation of what is going on here. . . . Here's the background. Mr. Thomas resigned from the bench in disgrace in late 2007, facing 30 ethics charges before the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. Since then, allegations of spanking prisoners and sexual misconduct have festered while Mr. Thomas continues to practice law and remains uncharged with any crime. . . . Circuit Judge Joseph "Rusty" Johnston has now taken the extraordinary step of barring Mr. Thomas from practicing law in his courtroom. In his written order, Judge Johnston says that Mr. Thomas misused his position as a judge to coerce defendants to "engage in sexual acts with him."

IOWA  

Local attorney arrested in West Des Moines prostitution sting

By Butch Heman, Staff Writer

3-12-09 -- A Jefferson attorney who's also practiced in Carroll was among 13 men arrested in a prostitution sting in West Des Moines last month, authorities there announced Wednesday. . . . Mark Rasmussen, 52, was charged with prostitution for allegedly meeting a woman who'd advertised an online escort service, showing up at her apartment Feb. 19 and agreeing to pay her for unspecified sexual conduct. . . . The charge is an aggravated misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and a $6,250 fine. . . . Rasmussen, who has also served as a court-appointed attorney for Carroll County suspects, was booked and released with a citation to appear in court at a later date. . . . Rasmussen did not return phone calls to The Times Herald. . . . West Des Moines police said they acted on complaints of excess foot traffic at an apartment in the Westown Parkway Residences. Officers from Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement assisted in the investigation.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Former prosecutor gets house arrest for corrupting minors

By Larry King, Inquirer Staff Writer

3-11-09 -- Anthony Cappuccio had an image that inspired trust. . . . In the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, he was a rising star who aggressively prosecuted corrupt public officials, drunken drivers, and child molesters. . . . At First United Methodist Church in Perkasie, Cappuccio was seen as a married father of two, a police officer's son entrusted with serving as a youth leader. . . . Cappuccio, 32, recklessly betrayed that trust. . . . He provided alcohol and smoked pot with some of the teens at concerts, then let them drive home. He engaged in a lengthy sexual relationship with one of the boys. . . . He viewed pornographic images of young males on his office computer. He cheated on his pregnant wife, once cutting short a vacation for a rendezvous with the teen boy.

NEW JERSEY  

Judge Hit With Ethics Charges Over Steamy E-Mails With Former Clerk

Mary Pat Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

3-10-09 -- A New Jersey Superior Court judge has been charged with violating ethics rules and the judiciary's Internet policy by sending romantic e-mails to a former law clerk and trying to get her a job with the Public Defender's Office. . . . In a complaint made public March 6, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct alleges Lawrence DeBello kept sending intimate e-mails even after his assignment judge confronted him about them in December 2007. . . . The unnamed clerk worked for DeBello in the Hudson County Family Part from September 2006 through August 2007. Soon after she left, DeBello started corresponding with her on his judiciary e-mail account.

PENNSYLVANIA  

Pittsburgh-area attorney imprisoned for child porn

The Associated Press, Lebanon Daily News

3-6-09 -- A Pittsburgh-area attorney has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for possessing child pornography and now faces the loss of his law license. . . . Forty-eight-year-old Robert Mitchell, of South Park, pleaded guilty in August and was sentenced Thursday. . . . Mitchell is married with four children, ages 3 to 15. His family says they believe his behavior was caused by anti-seizure medication.

CALIFORNIA  

Lawyer gets jail time on child porn charge

By Glenda Anderson, The Press Democrat

3-2-09 -- A former Lake County Juvenile Court public defender was sentenced Friday to 120 days in the county jail and three years of probation for possession of child pornography. . . . Robert Wayne Wiley, 75, of Lakeport, also will be required to register as a sex offender and is prohibited from using the Internet during his probation, said Lake County Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg. . . . Wiley had pleaded guilty last month to one count of possession of child pornography just before his case was scheduled to go to trial. The charges stemmed from an electronic thumb drive Wiley apparently lost in a courtroom in February 2007.

WASHINGTON   

Wash. judge charged with felony harassment

The Associated Press

3-1-09 -- A Pierce County Superior Court judge was charged Friday with felony harassment and a misdemeanor count of patronizing a prostitute. . . . The state attorney general's office alleges that Michael Hecht threatened to kill a prostitute on Aug. 30 of last year, shortly after Hecht was elected to the bench but before he was sworn in, the News Tribune of Tacoma reported. . . . According to court papers, the male prostitute told Tacoma police that Hecht, 58, had paid him for sex in the past. . . . In the second charge, prosecutors allege Hecht paid a different male prostitute to engage in sex.

February 2009

MASSACHUSETTS   

Chelsea court official allegedly had sex in courtroom

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

2-27-09 -- An assistant clerk at the Chelsea District Court was arrested by the FBI this morning on charges that he had sex with an accused prostitute in an empty courtroom while promising to help get a charge against her dismissed. . . . James "Jim" Burke, 41, of Chelsea, made a brief appearance this morning before US Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman, who released him on $10,000 unsecured bond and ordered him to return to federal court March 26 for a probable cause hearing. A spokeswoman for the state court system said he was suspended without pay. . . . "It's a perversion of the legal system and a gross abuse of power,'' said Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly, head of the US attorney's public corruption unit.

MINNESOTA   

Ruling stands, pedophile lawyer stays in prison

Despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in his favor, the state's high court decided that the conviction of former lawyer Stephen Danforth should stand.

Star Tribune

2-26-09 -- Despite winning a round at the U.S. Supreme Court, former Minnesota lawyer Stephen Danforth won't be able to cross-examine a boy whom he was convicted of sexually abusing in 1996, the state Supreme Court decided Thursday. . . . The court's ruling upholds Danforth's 1996 conviction. Danforth, who was a lawyer and represented himself at trial, is serving a 26-year prison term. . . . Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman's office fought the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. "He just deserves to stay in prison for a very long time," Freeman said Thursday of the convicted pedophile. . . . In Danforth's Hennepin County District Court trial, the jury saw and heard a videotaped interview with the child, who was 6 at the time of the abuse. But the child, identified as J.S., did not testify, so Danforth never had a chance to cross-examine him.

OKLAHOMA  

Tulsa: Panel says former judge Donald Thompson will lose judicial pension

By Barbara Hoberock - Tulsa World

2-20-09 -- An attorney for Donald D. Thompson said the former Creek County district judge will appeal a decision he must forfeit most of his state retirement. . . . The Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees on Thursday accepted an administrative hearing examiner’s decision that Thompson had violated the oath of his judicial office when he was convicted of indecent exposure. . . . Thompson served about 20 months in prison after being found guilty in 2006 of four felony counts for his use of a penis pump while presiding over trials. . . . Thompson’s attorney, Rob Nigh, asked that Thompson’s entire retirement benefit of $7,789 a month be reinstated. . . . It covers the period Thompson was on the bench from 1982 until August 2004. . . . If that couldn’t be done, Nigh asked for reinstatement of Thompson’s retirement benefits from the five terms he served on the bench with clear conduct. . . . That amount was $6,649 a month. . . . In the alternative, Nigh asked for a rehearing before the hearing examiner.

GENERAL

Pro-Porn Nominee Reverses His Stance

By Susan Brinkmann, For The Bulletin

2-11-09 -- After spending his entire career defending Playboy and Penthouse, fighting child pornography laws and working for unlimited access to abortion, when it came time to face tough questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the president’s pick for Deputy Attorney General, David Ogden, changed his prior stances. . . . Mr. Ogden reversed course on many of his controversial positions when pressed by senators during his Feb. 6 confirmation hearing. He urged the committee not to judge him based on arguments he made on behalf of his past clients, some of which he said were due to “immaturity.” . . . Not everyone is buying it. . . . Brian Burch, president of the pro-family advocacy group, Fidelis, described Mr. Ogden’s performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee as “a textbook example of an ambitious nominee saying whatever he needs to say to get the votes for confirmation.”

GOP Focuses on Deputy AG Nominee Ogden's Work at Wilmer Cutler

David Ingram, Legal Times

2-9-09 -- The nomination of David Ogden to be deputy attorney general has given senators a chance to revisit some of most controversial Supreme Court decisions of the last two decades. . . . During a two-hour confirmation hearing last week, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Ogden about his work on cases involving abortion, the death penalty, foreign law and obscenity, repeatedly asking whether he personally holds the views that he argued on behalf of his clients. The partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr replied that in many cases he does not, and that in others he would still enforce the law if confirmed as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. . . . Anti-pornography activists have been among the most vocal critics of Ogden's nomination because of his work on behalf of the adult entertainment industry in First Amendment cases.

Pornography Advocate at DOJ?

by Janet M. LaRue, Townhall.com

2-9-09 -- It's been a taxing two weeks for President Obama and his nominees. And there's another nominee with bigger disqualifiers than unpaid taxes. . . . Imagine. A veteran pornography defense attorney takes a top spot at the agency charged with enforcing the nation's child pornography and obscenity laws. . . . And that's what will happen if David G. Ogden is confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, the second in command at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the nation's top law enforcement agency. . . . Who's next? . . . Jack Kevorkian as Surgeon General? . . . Jane Fonda as Deputy Secretary of Veteran's Affairs? . . . Sandy Berger, custodian of classified documents at the National Archives? . . . Pat Trueman, former chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section at DOJ says, "We've seen both on adult pornography and on child pornography, [Ogden] is not with us. … Certainly, he reflects President Obama on Obama's positions on pornography, homosexuality and abortion."

ALABAMA  

Law license suspended for Dothan attorney

By Matt Elofson

2-10-09 -- The Alabama State Bar Association suspended the license to practice law for a veteran Dothan attorney on Tuesday. . . . Tony McLain, general counsel for the state bar association, said the disciplinary commission of the state bar handed down the order of suspension against Randy Brackin after the office of general counsel filed a petition of suspension. McLain said his office filed a petition of suspension based on the recent felony charges filed against Brackin. . . . Houston County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Brackin, 61, last week, and charged him with 11 felony counts of possession of child pornography. Brackin faces one to 10 years in prison if convicted of each class C felony charge. . . . “We have to come in and protect the clients and their cases,” McLain said. “You can’t very well represent a client while you’re sitting in jail.”

MASSACHUSETTS   

Lawyer-rapist sees conviction thrown out

By Gary V. Murray Telegram & Gazette Staff

2-4-09 -- The state Appeals Court yesterday vacated one of suspended Gardner lawyer Gary R. LeBlanc’s 2005 convictions in a case in which he was found guilty of drugging and raping an 18-year-old woman. . . . While affirming Mr. LeBlanc’s Oct. 20, 2005, convictions for two counts of rape, indecent assault and battery, cocaine distribution and providing alcohol to a minor, the Appeals Court vacated his conviction on a charge of drugging for sexual intercourse and ordered that the suspended lawyer be re-sentenced. . . . The appellate court found that Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr., who presided over the Worcester Superior Court trial, erred in his instructions to the jury on the drugging for sexual intercourse charge by telling the jurors that to prove Mr. LeBlanc “administered” cocaine and alcohol to the victim, the prosecution merely had to establish that he provided the substances to her.

NEW JERSEY  

Former Judge Disbarred for Conviction of
Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

2-3-09 -- The New Jersey Supreme Court has ordered the disbarment of former Superior Court Judge Stephen Thompson based on his federal conviction of sexual exploitation of a minor, a crime found to reflect adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer. . . . The court, in an order made public Monday, adopted the Disciplinary Review Board's recommendation that disbarment was the only appropriate sanction for Thompson's conduct, which included downloading child pornography in his chambers and traveling to Russia to have sex with an underage boy. . . . In April 2003, state police officers and Camden County Prosecutor's Office investigators raided Thompson's Haddon Township home and his summer house in Avalon, N.J. The search found child pornography, including a videotape of him engaged in a sex act with a boy believed to have been between 13 and 16. His passport showed he had traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 20, 2002, and returned five days later.

OKLAHOMA  

Indecent exposure trial is ordered

A Tulsa County district judge faces a felony count.

By Bill Braun World Staff Writer

2-3-09 -- Tulsa County District Judge Jesse Harris must face trial on a felony count of indecent exposure, an out-of-county judge ruled Monday. . . . Osage County District Judge M. John Kane IV indicated that after "having carefully considered the law and the evidence," he found sufficient evidence to order Harris bound over for trial. . . . Kane slated a March 3 arraignment for Harris, at a time and place to be determined by a new judge who is likely to be assigned by State Supreme Court Chief Justice James Edmondson. . . . According to state statute, a judge who conducts a preliminary hearing shall not also handle the trial "except with the consent of all parties." Allen Smallwood, one of Harris' defense lawyers, said that a different judge will handle a trial in the case.

January 2009

OHIO  

Attorney in sex sting surrenders law license

By James Nash

1-23-09 -- A New Albany lawyer who was arrested in a high-profile sex sting at the Statehouse has not only lost his marriage and a month of his freedom, but he also has lost his right to practice law. . . . Barry Mentser, 49, surrendered his law license yesterday in the middle of disciplinary proceedings against him. . . . Mentser, who had been a lawyer for nearly 25 years, is permanently barred from practicing law in Ohio. . . . With news cameras rolling, Mentser was arrested in October 2007 at the Statehouse by a Warren County detective who had posed online as a 14-year-old girl. The detective was part of sex-crimes task force and had come to Columbus to testify at a legislative hearing on Internet predators. . . . Mentser had sent nude photos of himself from a laptop computer in his S. Front Street office and had planned to meet the "girl" for sex, prosecutors said.

KANSAS  

Prosecutor's Law License Suspended Over Explicit Photos Shown to Drunk Teens' Parents

Leigh Jones, The National Law Journal

01-21-09 -- A prosecutor in Kansas has failed to block the suspension of his law license by arguing that his alleged Asperger Syndrome played a part in his decision to show sexually explicit photos of drunken teens at a party to their parents. . . . The Supreme Court of Kansas on Friday suspended Anderson County Attorney Frederick Campbell, 49, from practice for six months. The court concluded that he violated attorney ethics rules when he attempted to demonstrate to a group of parents the dangers of teenage drinking by presenting them with photos of teens drinking and engaging in sexual intercourse. . . . The court in In the Matter of Campbell, No. 101,116, found that despite Campbell's argument that he had released the photos for the "right reason," an initial ethics panel recommendation calling for a 90-day suspension was not severe enough. . . . Reached by phone, Campbell said that he thought the court made the right decision. . . . "I don't relate well to other people," he said. Campbell graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

TEXAS  

Attorney Rape Scandal Case Heard

JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash

1-19-09 -- Testimony is heard for case involving alleged rape by prominent attorney and wife. . . . The scandal ridden aggravated sexual assault trial of a well-known Clarksville, Texas attorney, his business owner wife, and a ranch hand entered day four on Wednesday, as reported by the Paris News. A 38-year-old Red River County woman accused Attorney Mark Lesher 62, Rhonda Lesher 49, and Robert McCarver 39, of raping her on July 26, 2007. She did not file the complaint until months after the alleged incident. The accuser claimed she woke up to being raped by the three. . . . Evidence was presented showing the accuser purchased thousands of dollars worth of items to furnish a home she had rented for herself and McCarver, with whom she reportedly had an affair, weeks after the alleged rape.

December 2008

MONTANA  

Not Guilty by Reason of You Are Insanely Hot!:
Randy Judge Jerked From Bench

New York Lawyer, By The Associated Press

12-31-08 -- The Montana Supreme Court is removing a Libby judge from office following allegations of sexual misconduct. . . . The order confirms an earlier recommendation from the state Judicial Standards Commission. Nine women say that Lincoln County Justice of the Peace Gary D. Hicks offered leniency in exchange for sexual favors. . . . The Supreme Court agreed that Hicks violated judicial ethics. . . . The court ordered his salary terminated Tuesday, and ordered he be removed from office.

NEW YORK  

Attorney Caught in Internet Sex Sting Suspended From Practice for 3 Years

Rare split N.Y. appellate court suspends former Kirkland & Ellis associate who admitted attempting to meet purported 13-year-old for sex

Mark Fass, New York Law Journal

12-31-08 -- An associate who was fired from Kirkland & Ellis in 2004 after admitting he attempted to arrange a meeting "to engage in an oral sexual act" with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl has been suspended from practicing law in New York for three years. . . . In a rare 3-2 decision in a disciplinary matter, a five-judge panel of the New York Appellate Division, 1st Department, agreed that Steven J. Lever "brought shame to himself and to this State's Bar" by using the Internet "to prey on minors for purposes of sexual gratification." They also agreed his conduct required "a significant sanction." . . . However, finding a dearth of New York precedent on point, the judges could not agree on the appropriate punishment. . . . The three-judge majority, looking at similar cases from other states, cited the "substantial and credible mitigation evidence" in confirming a hearing panel's recommended three-year suspension. . . . The case is Matter of Lever.

OHIO  

Ohioans still angry over attorney general sex scandal

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow

12-26-08 -- A pro-family activist finds it appalling that Ohio voters have been betrayed by the very person they entrusted to be the highest law enforcement official in the state. . . .  Recently Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles released a detailed report on his six-month investigation of former Attorney General Marc Dann, who resigned in May amid a sexual harassment scandal in his office that included an admission to having an affair with an employee. . . . The report said Dann ran a vulgar and unprofessional office and misused campaign funds to make lavish payments to friends and family. It also indicated that the Democrat used his position to indulge himself and gave well-paid top jobs to aides whose only qualification was their loyalty and friendship to their boss. . . . David Miller, vice president for public policy at Citizens for Community Values, says there is a huge mess to clean up.

OKLAHOMA  

Judicial complaint system ripped
Lawyers defending a Tulsa County judge against lewdness charges are challenging its secrecy.

By Bill Braun World Staff Writer

12-26-08 -- The secrecy surrounding the state's judicial complaints system is being challenged by attorneys who are defending Tulsa County District Judge Jesse Harris against a felony charge. . . . Harris' lawyers maintain that he should be allowed to use materials that the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints contends must remain secret. . . . A recent filing on his behalf asserts that provisions of a statute that "prohibits a judge who is the subject of a pending judicial complaint from revealing any information concerning the complaint, is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment." . . . Preventing a judge from disclosing any information about a "proposed or pending judicial complaint relevant to his case" is "an unconstitutional restriction on free speech because it is overly broad and not susceptible to a narrowing construction," the pleading states.

OREGON  

Judge reaffirms state must bail accused child rapist out of jail

by Steve Mayes, The Oregonian

12-18-08 -- A Clackamas County judge has refused to rescind her demand that state welfare officials bail an accused child-rapist out of jail. . . . Circuit Judge Deanne Darling said Thursday that the Department of Human Services had not explained why Russell Paul Hamblen should not be reunited with his 13-year-old son. . . . Hamblen, 50, was arrested in April on dozens of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse charges involving teenage girls and providing alcohol to minors. His 19-year-old son also was arrested in connection with the crimes and has been sentenced to prison. . . . Darling said that Human Services and prosecutors had alleged Hamblen's criminal involvement but had not provided credible evidence that he was an unfit parent.

November 2008

FEDERAL COURTS

Another Shot Fired in Alex Kozinski Ethics Investigation

Posted by Nathan Koppel  WSJ Blog

11-28-08 --Earlier this week, there was a new development in the Alex Kozinski ethics investigation. As readers surely recall, the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit landed in hot water this summer when it surfaced that he had posted sexually explicit images onto what he believed was a private Web address. . . . Here’s a Law Blog post on the matter, which first surfaced in a Los Angeles times article, and a Law Blog backgrounder on the judge’s ribald sense of humor. . . . Earlier this week, Ralph Mecham, who headed the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts before retiring in 2006, filed a complaint alleging that Kozinski disabled a judicial computer security system meant to block access to pornographic Web sites. . . . Here’s a Bloomberg article about the Mecham complaint, which was filed Monday with the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. The court is handling an ethics investigation into Kozinski over the sexual images. We could not locate a copy of the complaint, but here’s an earlier letter Mecham filed to the U.S. Judicial Conference outlining his allegations about the computer, courtesy of the ABA Journal.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  

Former Hunton Partner Gets 70 Months for Child Porn on Firm Laptop

Mike Scarcella, Legal Times

11-25-08 -- A former Hunton & Williams partner was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison for using his firm's laptop to download and store videos of child pornography. . . . The lawyer, Emerson Briggs, who made partner at Hunton & Williams in 2003, pleaded guilty in September to one count of receiving child pornography. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also sentenced Briggs, 41, to 10 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $12,500 fine. . . . Briggs has been in custody since his plea hearing. Steptoe & Johnson partner Bruce Bishop, who represented Briggs, declined to comment. Briggs is "ashamed and remorseful about his past actions," his wife wrote in a letter to the judge. Briggs entered counseling after losing his job at Hunton & Williams.

CALIFORNIA  

Contra Costa prosecutor accused of rape will be charged, his lawyer says

Michael Gressett, 51, will appear in court Friday morning

By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times

11-20-08 -- The lawyer for a Contra Costa County sex crimes prosecutor accused of raping a colleague in May said he was informed that his client will be charged today. . . . Michael Cardoza, the attorney for 51-year-old Michael Gressett of Martinez, said state prosecutors told him Thursday that Gressett will face charges in the alleged daytime rape of a fellow deputy district attorney at Gressett's home May 8. Cardoza said he did not know the charges, but that he was told they likely will mirror Gressett's arrest on suspicion of rape, oral copulation, sodomy and penetration with a foreign object.

OKLAHOMA  

Convicted OKC attorney surrenders law license

By The Associated Press 

11-11- 08 -- Well-known Oklahoma City attorney George Miskovsky III has surrendered his law license after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges. . . . Miskovsky pleaded guilty in October to charges of offering to engage in acts of lewdness as part of a plea deal. . . . He was originally charged with second-degree rape and sodomy for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl.

TEXAS  

Houston attorney charged with sex abuse, sex assault of 2 teenage girls

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

11-6-08 -- A Houston attorney has been accused of having sexual contact with two teenage girls. . . . Anastacio Mindiola, 30, has been charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count of sexual assault, said Donna Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. . . . He is free on a total of $120,000 bond, Hawkins said. He was ordered to have no contact with the girls. . . . If convicted, Mindiola faces sentences of between two and 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine on each count.

OKLAHOMA  

Lawsuit tied to ex-judge is settled

By David Harper World Staff Writer 

11-5-08 -- A woman who worked with former Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson has settled her federal lawsuit against the state for $170,000. . . . A document filed in Tulsa federal court late Monday says the state will pay plaintiff Lisa Foster within three weeks after a final order approving the settlement is filed. . . . U.S. District Judge Terence Kern had been scheduled to preside over a jury trial in the case last week. However, the trial was canceled after the parties informed the court on Oct. 22 that the matter had been resolved. . . . Foster filed a federal lawsuit against Thompson, who was convicted in 2006 of indecent exposure, and the state of Oklahoma on June 2, 2005. . . . She claimed that she was wrongfully discharged and that Thompson subjected her to a sexually hostile work environment that caused her emotional distress by his engaging in conduct that was "utterly intolerable in a civilized community."

ILLINOIS  

CourtWatch questions attorney comments

by Cid Standifer

11-5-08 -- Court watchers have noted a disturbing pattern in their third quarterly report on domestic and sexual violence cases in Jo Daviess County. . . . One observer reported an incident in which an attorney joked that the defendant in a domestic violence case "should have thrown her (the victim) in the dumpster and closed the lid." . . . In another, a prosecutor joked before a hearing that the "victim in this has three priors with this guy!" . . . To which the defense attorney added, "In three states!" . . . Aside from the fact that court watchers found the comments unprofessional and inappropriate, the report raises concerns about the effect that attorneys' attitudes can have on domestic violence and sexual assault victims seeking justice.

FEDERAL COURTS

San Francisco Court Puts Kozinski Complaint on Hold

By Cynthia Cotts, Bloomberg

11-5-08 -- An ethics committee of the federal appeals court in San Francisco issued an order to stop an investigation of a lawyer's complaint alleging misconduct by Alex Kozinski, the court's chief judge. . . . Cyrus Sanai, a Los Angeles attorney, accused Kozinski of putting pornography on a public Web site and revived allegations that the judge broke into a computer security system in 2001 and disabled porn-detecting software. . . . The ethics committee, officially the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council, on Nov. 3 directed that Sanai's complaint be put on hold because ``no exceptional circumstances'' exist to warrant a transfer to a Philadelphia committee looking into an earlier complaint about Kozinski's sexually explicit Web postings. . . . ``It's appalling,'' Sanai said yesterday in an interview. ``It is a transparent effort to shield Judge Kozinski and the other subjects of the complaint from meaningful investigation.''

You can access the order of the Judicial Council at this link.

October 2008

ILLINOIS  

Former Aurora attorney admits charges

By Kate Thayer

10-29-08 -- A former Aurora lawyer admitted to reproducing child pornography Monday and could serve prison time. . . . Kenneth E. Mateas, 59, of Aurora, pleaded guilty to nine counts of reproduction of child pornography – a Class 1 felony. . . . Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon, who accepted the plea, could sentence Mateas on Jan. 7, 2009, at his next court appearance. Mateas faces between four and 15 years in prison, but also could receive probation.

MONTANA  

Ouster Recommended for Judge Accused of Trading Sexual Favors

The Associated Press

10-22-08 -- The state Judicial Standards Commission in Montana has recommended that a Libby judge accused of offering female defendants leniency in return for sexual favors be removed from office. . . . The commission heard testimony in August from victims, law enforcement officers, court officials and a statistics expert. It found that Lincoln County Justice of the Peace Gary D. Hicks' conduct with eight of the nine women who filed complaints violated Montana's code of judicial ethics. . . . The recommendation reached last week by the five-member commission must be reviewed by the full Montana Supreme Court, which could hold a separate hearing, announce a decision or allow Hicks a chance to respond to the commission's recommendation. . . . Hicks has been suspended with pay from serving as a judicial officer pending the Supreme Court review. No date for that review has been set.

NEVADA  

Judge's removal ordered
Panel rules after Del Vecchio admits sexual improprieties
By Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital Bureau

10-22-09 -- Clark County Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio was removed from office Tuesday by the Commission on Judicial Discipline after he admitted to numerous sexual improprieties, including having sex in hotels with a staff member during working hours. . . . .The commission's decision, effective immediately, put the eight-year judge in the company of three other Southern Nevada jurists removed from the bench since 1987. . . . . The ruling also bars Del Vecchio from again seeking judicial office in Nevada. . . . . It came despite the pleas of his attorney Bob Dickerson for "some compassion," in light of a stroke suffered by the judge in 2005 and accompanying memory loss. . . . . But Mary Boetsch, special prosecutor for the commission, described Del Vecchio as a man with great sexual hunger.

FLORIDA  

Miami-Dade Judge Charged With Indecent Exposure

Judge Resigns After Indecent Exposure Allegations

Local10.com

10-17-08 -- A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge resigned Thursday after allegations that he exposed himself inside a bathroom on the University of Miami campus. . . . Douglas Chumbly immediately resigned his Circuit Court seat after a formal misdemeanor charge was brought against him. . . . Chumbly was appointed Circuit Court judge two years ago and presided mostly over juvenile court cases. . . .Prosecutors said Chumbly walked into a men’s campus bathroom on Sept. 25 and exposed himself to someone in a “vulgar or indecent manner," court records show. The restroom is next to a popular campus coffee shop and a campus library. . . . "I'm not shocked as to who it was. I’m shocked that it actually happened here and we didn’t even hear about it," said student Juliessa Criollo. . . . "It’s been three weeks. That’s a really long time not to hear about something like that," said student Manny Melo.

ILLINOIS  

Lincoln attorney suspended for videotaping sex

By Edith Brady-Lunny

10-15-08 -- A Lincoln attorney accused of secretly videotaping sex with five women and drunk driving was suspended from practicing law for nine months by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. . . . The sanctions were handed down Oct. 7 against Nick Burgrabe, a former Lincoln city attorney, who is in private practice in Logan County. . . . The disciplinary panel suspended Burgrabe’s law license for three years but stayed the sanction after nine months. He also must complete a three-year term of probation. . . . The charges accused Burgrabe of videotaping the women, including three former clients and his secretary. . . . “This was not an isolated incident but rather the videotaping continued over the course of about six years, 1991 to 1997,” said the ARDC ruling. . . . Burgrabe also received two DUI citations in 2001 and 2005.

FEDERAL COURTS

9th Circuit's Kozinski Faces New Misconduct Complaint From Familiar Foe

Attorney who filed complaint was the one who exposed Kozinski for having sexually explicit images on his personal Web site

Pamela A. MacLean, The National Law Journal

10-10-08 -- Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, faces a new misconduct complaint that accuses him of illegally disabling court software in 2001 that was intended to detect improper staff Internet downloads of movies and music. . . . The 80-page complaint, filed Sept. 27 by Beverly Hills, Calif., attorney Cyrus Sanai, who has filed complaints against Kozinski in the past, also names 10 other federal judges Sanai has had run-ins with in the past. . . . His complaint includes the first formal complaint against Kozinski for making sexually explicit images available on a public Web site, alex.kozinski.com (site now defunct). . . . At the time the Web site material was disclosed earlier this year Kozinski was in the midst of presiding over an obscenity trial in Los Angeles and had to declare a mistrial and step off the case as a result.

OKLAHOMA  

Outgoing Oklahoma Bar Association General Counsel Enters Plea in Biting Case

The Associated Press

10-10-08 -- A lawyer who examined misconduct allegations against attorneys for the Oklahoma Bar Association has been given a year of probation on a charge of outraging public decency. . . . Dan Murdock entered an Alford plea to the misdemeanor count Thursday, maintaining he did nothing wrong at a June 28 wedding shower but acknowledging that Oklahoma County prosecutors had enough evidence to persuade a jury otherwise. . . . Murdock, 62, was accused of groping and biting a woman that day at Remington Park. He originally was charged with two felony counts of sexual battery. . . . "I understand the nature of the charges and the evidence that would be presented against me," he wrote in court papers. "I understand this evidence, if believed, could be sufficient to convict me."

NEW YORK  

NY Lawyer Agrees to Plea Over Claims He Groped Female Colleagues

New York Lawyer, By The Associated Press

10-8-08 -- Attorney Richard Dienst, who is accused of groping female colleagues, has pleaded guilty to a violation, an offense less serious than a misdemeanor. . . . He was given a conditional discharge in exchange for his guilty plea to second-degree harassment. That means the charge will be dropped if he meets two conditions over the next year. . . . Mr. Dienst, 67, must undergo a year of sexual behavior counseling, and he must obey an order requiring him to stay away from the two lawyers who accused him of fondling them.

TENNESSEE  

Judicial commissioner pleads guilty to 2 charges

By Brian Mosely Shelbyville Times-Gazette

10-5-08 -- A Bedford County judicial commissioner will spend two weeks in the Moore County jail next month after he pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to two of the three charges against him Thursday. . . . Billy Hardin entered a plea of guilty to counts two and three - simple assault, amended from the charge of sexual battery and patronizing prostitution within a mile and a half of a school. Count one, official misconduct, a class E felony, was dismissed in consideration of the pleas for the two other offenses, which are considered misdemeanors. . . . Hardin was sentenced on both the assault and prostitution charges to 11 months, 29 days, to serve seven days for each count concurrently, plus pay court costs. He also received 11 months, 29 days probation on both charges. . . . The commissioner was ordered to report to the Moore County jail on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

CALIFORNIA  

Contra Costa deputy D.A. arrested on suspicion of rape

Leslie Fulbright,Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writers

10-3-08 -- A veteran Contra Costa County sex-crimes prosecutor was arrested Thursday on suspicion of rape, Martinez police said. . . . Deputy District Attorney Michael Gressett, 51, of Martinez is suspected of raping another deputy district attorney, according to two sources close to the investigation. A statement issued by Martinez police did not refer to the alleged victim. . . . Gressett was booked on suspicion of committing rape, oral copulation, sodomy and penetration with a foreign object, all felonies, Cmdr. Eric Ghisletta said in the police statement. The alleged attack occurred "several months ago," police said, but they did not give a date. . . . Gressett's attorney, Michael Cardoza, said his client is innocent and will "fight these allegations very vigorously." . . . "Everybody that knows him is exceedingly shocked by these allegations," Cardoza said. "The problem with allegations like this is that when he walks away innocent, there will always be people who will wonder. The allegations alone have a devastating effect."

FEDERAL COURTS

Judge Kozinski Accused of Ethics Breach by Lawyer 

By Cynthia Cotts, Bloomberg

10-1-08 -- Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the federal appeals court in San Francisco, was formally accused by Los Angeles lawyer Cyrus Sanai of making pornography available on a public Web site, the attorney's third misconduct complaint against the judge in three years. . . . Sanai said he sent a complaint to the court's ethics committee that arrived yesterday. The document, reviewed by Bloomberg News, cited pictures he found on Alex.Kozinski.com and made public in June. About a dozen featured naked women, some in sexual activities. The images were intended to be humorous, according to a friend of the judge. . . . Sanai called Kozinski, 58, ``the poster boy for judicial deviancy'' and alleged misconduct by about a dozen other judges of the court. He said Kozinski also failed to monitor the appointment of part-time judges with financial conflicts of interest, publicly commented on a pending case and defended judges' right to view Web sites such as teenbutts.com on court computers. . . . Kozinski's lawyer, Mark Holscher, called Sanai a ``disgruntled sanctioned lawyer'' whose complaint consists of ``false attacks.'' Kozinski didn't respond to a request for comment.

MASSACHUSETTS   

Former prosecutor facing additional charges

By Associated Press

10-2-08 -- A former Bristol County prosecutor already facing charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl, is now accused of having a relationship with a 30-year-old female defendant in return for his influence in her case. . . . The new charges against 39-year-old Peter Joseph Costanza unveiled on Wednesday are included in an eight-count grand jury indictment in New Bedford Superior Court. Costanza pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. . . . According to documents, the woman was facing criminal charges district court when the relationship began.

September 2008

INDIANA  

New Albany attorney sentenced to year in prison for sexual battery

By Matt Thacker, newsandtribune.com

09-25-08 -- A New Albany attorney was sentenced to one year in prison after a Harrison County judge threw out his plea agreement and accused him of trying to “manipulate the system.” . . . Anthony J. Wallingford, 39, pleaded guilty Wednesday night to class D felony sexual battery for touching a 16-year-old girl’s breasts with his hands and mouth in April 2007 in Elizabeth. Harrison County Superior Court Judge Roger Davis sentenced Wallingford to one year in prison and two years probation. . . . In the original plea agreement filed Aug. 8, Wallingford pleaded guilty to the same charge but could not have been sentenced to more than 120 days in jail.

May 2008

NEW YORK  

Attorney Charged With Groping Female Lawyers

Anthony Lin, New York Law Journal

5-29-08 -- A lawyer who has represented several police unions was arrested Friday on charges of groping two female lawyers in his downtown office. . . . According to the complaint by the Manhattan district attorney's office, Richard A. Dienst, 67, of Queller, Fisher, Dienst, Serrins, Washer & Kool is facing two counts each of forcible touching, third-degree sexual abuse and second-degree harassment based on separate incidents taking place on June 22, 2007, and March 21, 2008. . . . In last year's incident, Dienst allegedly grabbed and stroked a woman's breast and lower back, then attempted to place her hand on his crotch. . . . In March, he allegedly forcibly fondled and attempted to place his mouth on a different woman's breasts. He also allegedly engaged in other inappropriate touching, telling a woman she "made an old man's weekend." . . . Dienst has in the past represented the unions for police detectives, lieutenants, captains and other senior ranks, and has regularly defended their members in several high-profile cases alleging police brutality, corruption or other misconduct.

ILLINOIS   

Former Geneva attorney is officially disbarred

Beacon News Staff

5-23-08 -- An attorney who had a Geneva office has been disbarred after being convicted of sex crimes. . . . According to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, William Murphy, 34, was disbarred by consent. . . . His law license had been suspended in February. . . . In July 2006, Murphy was charged with indecent solicitation of a child, attempted aggravated assault and using the Internet to arrange a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old. . . . In October 2007, a DuPage County judge sentenced Murphy, of the 2000 block of Prairie Lane, Woodridge, to 30 days in jail and 30 months of sex offender probation. . . . Murphy's office at been in the 2000 block of South Batavia Avenue in Geneva. He was licensed in 2000.

In re William Francis Murphy

MASSACHUSETTS   

Father fraud: Victims violated again by judge’s ruling

The Patriot Ledger

5-17-08 -- The victims weren’t asking for much – just a chance to be heard; a brief moment to tell the truth in a court of law. But Worcester District Court Judge David Ricciardone gave them a slap in the face instead. . . .John Szantyr, an ex-priest charged with sexually violating two boys more than 20 years ago, will not be brought to justice because Ricciardone has effectively allowed Szantyr to walk away scot-free under a laughable ruling that the guy is not competent to stand trial. . . .We’re talking about a man who was recently examined by Dr. Malcolm Rogers, an experienced competency evaluator who told the court in February 2008 that Szantyr understands the charges against him and can assist his counsel in his defense. . . .Ricciardone rejected Dr. Rogers’ opinion even though it is routinely deemed sufficient proof of a defendant’s competency in courtrooms across Massachusetts. . . .Ricciardone, instead, sided with the nonexpert opinions of Szantyr’s brother and an ex-nurse’s aide named Constance Plank who had no experience with competency evaluations and only limited contact with Szantyr right before the court hearing, in January 2008. . . .During Plank’s testimony, she couldn’t even recall the name of the company she worked for, but like Szantyr’s brother she was certain the defendant was unable to care for himself. . . .Ricciardone refused to allow five prosecution witnesses to testify that they had recently seen Szantyr functioning without difficulty in various social and professional situations. . . .You’d think a judge with a duty to protect the integrity of our legal system would have been a bit more skeptical of the incompetence claims given that Szantyr pulled a shameless stunt by showing up in court in a wheelchair he apparently didn’t need in September 2006.

VIRGINIA  

Lawyer Jailed on Sex Charges

Tom Jackman Washington Post

5-11-08 -- A prominent Arlington County lawyer is in the Arlington jail without bond after he was arrested Thursday and accused of trying to arrange sex with an underage girl on the Internet. . . . Arlington police said Ronald M. Cohen, 57, who lives in McLean, had several sexually explicit online chats with someone he thought was a juvenile but was actually an officer on the Northern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. When Cohen went to meet the "girl," allegedly to have sex with her, he was arrested by Arlington and Virginia police, police said. . . . Cohen was charged with attempted indecent liberties with a minor and use of a computer to solicit sex with a minor. He is listed as a director of the Arlington County Bar Association and as a member of the Arlington Kiwanis board. A bond hearing is set for tomorrow in Arlington General District Court.

DELAWARE  

Former Lawyer Faces Child Porn Charges After Computer Seized

(AP) – 5-10-08 -- A disbarred Wilmington lawyer is facing several charges after police found child pornography on a computer in his home. . . . Forty-seven-year-old Kenneth Fink, a registered sex offender, was under a court order that prohibited him from using computers. But probation officers found several computers during a routine check of his home. New Castle County police say they examined the computers and found explicit images of girls around the age of 10. . . . Fink was arrested in April, but police did not release the information until Friday because of ongoing computer forensics.

OKLAHOMA  

Former Judge Registered As Sex Offender

www.newson6.com

05-08-08 -- The 61-year-old former judge, will remain on the sex offender registry for 15 years. . . . Former Creek County judge, Donald Thompson, has officially registered himself as a sex offender. . . . The move comes just 3 days after he was released from custody. The 61-year-old former judge, will remain on the sex offender registry for 15 years.

OHIO  

Ohio Leaders Study Impeachment Process for Attorney General

Stephen Majors, The Associated Press, Law.com

5-7-08 -- The Ohio House member reviewing impeachment processes for possible action against Attorney General Marc Dann said he expects to present findings to legislative leaders Wednesday, but he cautioned against rushing to judgment. . . .  While most state lawmakers said they want Dann to resign, they agreed that they need evidence before saying whether they'll support an impeachment resolution. . . . "We ought not be in a banana republic," state Rep. Bill Batchelder of Medina, the Republican handling the review, told the Dayton Daily News. "It's a place where we need some deliberation." . . . Gov. Ted Strickland and all other state-level Democrats told fellow Democrat Marc Dann in a letter Sunday that impeachment would begin immediately if Dann did not resign. Dann has refused their demands after admitting to an affair with a subordinate that he said contributed to an atmosphere in his office that led to sexual harassment claims. . . . But lawmakers gave the embattled Democrat some breathing room Tuesday. The immediate threat of impeachment slowed in part because state lawmakers were grappling with the reality that they will be making history and setting legal precedent for perhaps centuries to come. Ohio has not used the impeachment process since 1820, and the last time someone was impeached and convicted was 1808.  

CALIFORNIA  

Corona del Mar lawyer convicted of stalking ex-girlfriend

A former public defender was convicted of stalking a woman he met online in 2004.

By Salvador Hernandez, The Orange County Register

5-1-08 -- A former public defender was convicted of stalking an ex-girlfriend, violating a restraining order and using his position as an attorney to intimidate her after she ended the relationship, authorities said. . . . David Scharf, 46, was found guilty by a jury Wednesday of one felony count of stalking, one misdemeanor count of harassing communication and one misdemeanor count of violating a restraining order. . . . Scharf, who works as a defense attorney from an office in Corona Del Mar, faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. He is expected back in court on June 13 at 9 a.m. at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. . . . Authorities said Scharf met the victim, a former resident of Lake Forest, online in March 2004, but he began harassing her and her family through e-mails when she ended the relationship five months later. . . . From July 1, 2004 through October 6, 2004, prosecutors said Scharf sent several aggressive e-mails that became more threatening as time elapsed. Many of those e-mails were sexual in their nature.

April 2008

OKLAHOMA  

Judge faces felony charges

By Nicole Marshall & Bill Braun World Staff Writers 

4-25-08 -- Tulsa County District Judge Jesse

 Harris denies allegations he exposed himself to two women. . . . Two felony counts of indecent exposure were filed Thursday against Tulsa County District Judge Jesse Harris, court records show. . . . Harris surrendered Thursday evening to Tulsa County Under-sheriff Brian Edwards at the office of Allen Smallwood, one of his defense attorneys. Edwards took Harris to the Tulsa Jail, where he was booked and then released on his own recognizance, Smallwood said. . . . Harris is charged with exposing himself to an ex-girlfriend and her friend in the parking lot of an east Tulsa hotel between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on March 9, according to police reports and Harris' attorneys. . . . Harris denies the allegation, saying he spoke to his former girlfriend from his car for about five to eight minutes and then left, his attorneys said. . . . ''Judge Harris wants the community to know he did not do this. He has full trust that the criminal justice system will exonerate him,'' Smallwood said.

Details revealed in Tulsa County judge's indecent exposure case

Editor's note: This document contains graphic descriptions.
View a PDF of the affidavit.
By Nicole Marshall World Staff Writer

4-25-08 -- A police affidavit obtained by the Tulsa World revealed new details Friday in a case against a Tulsa County District Judge who has been charged with indecent exposure. . . . Judge Jesse Harris was charged Thursday with two counts of indecent exposure resulting from a March 9 incident involving an ex-girlfriend and her friend in a parking lot at an east Tulsa motel. He was arrested and after being booked at the Tulsa Jail, he was released on his own recognizance. Harris denies the allegations. . . . According to the affidavit, his ex-girlfriend told police that he drove up to her motel room about 11 a.m. on March 9 and they talked. . . . She said that he then suggested that the woman and her friend engage in group sex with him, according to the affidavit. The woman said that he was touching himself, and "asked her if she missed his penis (referring to it by a pet name they shared)," the record states. . . . She said that he then exposed himself to her. . . . The woman's friend then exited the motel and approached the vehicle. She said that Harris was exposed and she described his penis to police. . . . The women said that they then went back to their motel room and Harris left.

OKLAHOMA  

Ex-judge to be released early

By Manny Gamallo World Staff Writer

4-21-08 -- Donald Thompson, a longtime Creek County judge convicted of indecent exposure for masturbating during trials, is within days of his release from prison. . . . According to the Department of Corrections, Thompson's prison release is tentatively set for May 1, although he could be out as early as Wednesday by other estimates. . . . Within 72 hours of his release, ?(April 23) Thompson will have to register as a sex offender, as required by his indecent-exposure convictions. . . . He will have to register with the Sapulpa Police Department, and he will remain on the sex-offender registry for 15 years, officials said. . . . He also will be registered as a sex offender with the Department of Corrections. . . . There are no schools, parks or day-care operations in the neighborhood where Thompson lives, city officials said. State law bars registered sex offenders from living closer than 2,000 feet to a school, park or day care.

VERMONT  

Contempt of court

Rutland Herald

4-21-08 -- The Vermont Supreme Court's decision not to reconsider its own ruling in the case of convicted batterer Michael Brillon is not surprising. That does not make it less disturbing, however. . . . Courts are not in the habit of do-overs, certainly not supreme courts, which is why it would have been a mild shock to see the state's top court decide to keep Brillon behind bars despite questions over the speed of his trial. . . . But the Brillon case is part of a troubling pattern in Vermont courts, beginning with Edward Cashman and continuing through the present day. . . . Cashman wished to express his concern over the state's laws regarding pedophiles and in fact got the regulations altered so that treatment would be an option more freely available to judges in sentencing. There's nothing wrong with that position; the problem was that Cashman chose to use sentencing in an actual case to make his point. That minimizes the very real trauma suffered by the victim, who deserved to see the abuser in the case serve a full and fitting sentence for the crime. . . . Again in the Brillon case, to indicate its displeasure with the state office of the defender general, the court chose the most dramatic avenue possible, which was to vacate the conviction and dismiss the case against a man the dissenting justices described as "a convicted woman beater and habitual offender." The court noted that Brillon, now 45, has 14 prior convictions, "including felonies for obstructing justice, concealing stolen property and, at age 31, sexual assault of a minor."

Decision: State v. Brillon (2005-167) (16-Apr-2008)

NEW YORK  

Judge Tills traveled with woman he jailed on prostitution charge

Former state justice is a central figure in probe of activities of Buffalo Jesters

By Dan Herbeck - News Staff Reporter

04-06-08 -- A woman who faced drug and prostitution charges in State Supreme Court Justice Ronald H. Tills’ courtroom later accompanied him on an out-of-state trip for a fraternal organization called the Jesters. Investigators are trying to determine whether the woman offered her services as a prostitute at the convention or whether she was just a guest of the judge, who has since retired. . . . Federal agents are investigating Tills’ involvement with the woman in a spinoff to their probe of human trafficking and prostitution at local massage parlors. . . . According to five sources close to the investigation, Tills became personally acquainted with the woman after she served six months of jail time he imposed and while he was still on the bench. . . . Authorities and judicial ethics experts said it would be inappropriate for a judge to engage in any sexual relationship with a woman who had previously been sentenced in his courtroom. . . . The U.S. attorney’s office and a Buffalo FBI spokesman declined to confirm or deny that the former judge’s dealings with the woman are under investigation.

March 2008

FLORIDA  

Stripper says judge shielded her from creditors

It was a way to keep creditors at bay, she says. He says she was a friend, but denies her allegations.

By Colleen Jenkins Times Staff Writer

03-12-08 -- An appeals judge denied Tuesday that he helped shield a stripper from creditors seeking nearly $315,000. . . . Judge Thomas E. Stringer Sr., who sits on the 2nd District Court of Appeal and hears cases from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, says he had "a friendship" and "a business relationship" with the woman. . . . But Christy Yamanaka, a New York City stripper, told a local TV station that the judge let her put thousands of dollars into his bank accounts so she could avoid repaying her credit card debt. . . . The judge conceded that Yamanaka once lived in a home in Hawaii that he purchased, but would not discuss her claim that they had a sexual relationship. . . . "I can't comment on the details of our personal relationship or our business relationship," he said during a 40-minute interview at his attorney's Tampa law office. . ..  Yamanaka, 47, indicated in December that she plans to sue Stringer for money that she says he owes her. Neither she nor her attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

NEW YORK  

Former Judge Tills resigns amid FBI prostitution investigation

By Dan Herbeck and Aaron Besecker - News Staff Reporters

03-10-08 -- A retired State Supreme Court justice resigned his post as a hearing officer as federal agents investigate his alleged role in taking a local massage parlor worker across state lines for purposes of prostitution. . . . FBI and U.S. Border Patrol agents are investigating allegations that retired Judge Ronald H. Tills, his former law clerk and a retired police captain took the female massage parlor employee in a motor home to a gathering of members of a nationwide group called the Royal Order of Jesters. . . . At the Jesters event, law enforcement officials said, the woman allegedly was paid to perform sexual favors. Police said the men who took her to the event could face federal criminal charges for transporting her over state lines for the purposes of prostitution. . . . The probe recently led to the resignations of Tills, a retired state judge who had been working as a judicial hearing officer, and Michael Stebick, a part-time law clerk in the state courts in Buffalo. . . . Both men resigned Thursday, according to Andrew B. Isenberg, district executive for the 8th Judicial District of the state court system.

February 2008

WEST VIRGINIA   

Judge Should Be Forced to Retire for Sexually Harassing Staffers, Panel Says

New York Lawyer
(AP) - A state panel will recommend to the state Supreme Court that a longtime Cabell County magistrate accused of sexually harassing female employees be forced to retire. . . . After hearing the testimony of five women who worked with or had contact with Magistrate Alvie Qualls at the Cabell County Courthouse, the nine-member panel appointed by the Judicial Investigation Commission determined Monday that Qualls violated the judicial code of conduct. . . . The women said he made graphic sexual remarks to them, sometimes repeatedly, from 2005 through 2007.

WISCONSIN    

Dunagan found guilty -
Former judge jailed; sentencing set for April 22

By Barbara Lyon, Editor

2-25-08 -- Judge William Stewart’s verdict was brief and to the point. On Thursday morning, following a one-and-a-half-day bench trial, he found Eugene Dunagan, 71, of Colfax guilty of one count of second degree sexual assault. . . . Charges against Dunagan, a former municipal court judge, were filed on Oct. 27, 2006. He was accused of sexually assaulting a mentally deficient young man in September 2005. . . . After Stewart revoked Dunagan’s bond, the former Colfax English teacher was taken to the Dunn County Jail. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing is set for April 22. . . . “I am pleased,” said assistant district attorney, Andrew Maki. “I think justice was done.”. . . Dunagan was represented by attorney Phil Steans of Menomonie. . . . Following Stewart’s ruling, Steans said, “We have not had an opportunity to discuss the possibility of an appeal yet. Anytime allegations such as these are made, it’s a very, very difficult thing for a defendant just because of the nature of the allegations. Some of the pretrial rulings were adverse to my client’s position. Obviously, I disagree with them and I think they had an impact on the final outcome.”

CALIFORNIA  

La Mesa lawyer pleads guilty in child porn case

A La Mesa lawyer pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court of possessing child pornography, according to court records.

Sign on San Diego

2-15-08 -- John Edward Grasberger, 60, admitted that in June 2006 his computer contained between 10 and 150 images of children engaged in sexual acts, according to court records. . . . He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison at a hearing set for May 27. Grasberger also agreed to resign from the California Bar Association, which would prevent him from practicing law in the state, according to court records.

FLORIDA  

Palm Beach County jury finds Naples lawyer guilty
of soliciting minor

By Dianna Cahn | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

2-14-08 -- Steven Mark Siegel was a practicing attorney in Naples in 2003 when he joined an Internet chat room and began soliciting someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex, a Palm Beach County jury determined Wednesday. . . . That Internet conversation, and several similar ones, went on for the next 10 months as Siegel held graphic sexual conversations with the girl and arranged a meeting with her to have sex. . . . In fact, Siegel was chatting with the Boynton Beach Police Department, which arrested him in March 2006. . . . A jury in Palm Beach County Circuit Court convicted Siegel on Wednesday of soliciting a child for sex, said state Attorney General Bill McCollum. . . . "This particular individual not only engaged in this criminal and destructive behavior time and again, he did it while serving as a trusted member of the legal community," McCollum said in a statement. "This case illustrates how cybercrime can be perpetuated by anyone, and we will continue exerting all available resources to protect our children."

OKLAHOMA  

Attorney Pleads No Contest to Molesting Indigent Teen Clients

New York Lawyer

2-14-08 -- (AP) _ A veteran Shawnee attorney has pleaded no contest to 10 felony and misdemeanor counts accusing him of molesting male teenage clients whom he had represented while working for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System. . . . Gary K. Jay, 68, entered his plea on Wednesday to three counts of lewd molestation; three drug possession counts; two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count each of indecent exposure and possession of drug paraphernalia. . . . Jay gave the teenagers drugs and alcohol and coerced them into having sex with him in a garage apartment behind his home in an affluent Shawnee neighborhood, Pottawatomie County prosecutors allege. . . . Jay entered his pleas without reaching an agreement with the state regarding punishment. Such pleas are considered blind pleas because sentencing is left to a judge.

WASHINGTON   

Lawyer gets 5 years in underage sex sting

The Oregonian, By Bryan Denson

2-13-08 -- A former Seattle labor lawyer who thought he had wooed a 14-year-old girl into a sexual rendezvous in 2004 -- and was nabbed by the FBI at a Portland MAX station -- was sentenced Wednesday to 63 months in federal prison. . . . A U.S. District Court jury last August found William B. Knowles, 54, guilty of two crimes: interstate travel with the intent to engage in sex with a minor, and coercion and enticement for attempting to lure an underage girl into sex. . . . "This case shows that adults who troll the internet for underage sex victims will get prosecuted and go to jail," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson. . ..  A government sentencing memorandum described Knowles as "a man who hid behind his own lies and deceit to carry out a double life, duping his wife and daughter while using client-related travel to engage in his unconventional extramarital sexual practices with at least six women."

NEVADA  

Clark County judge accused of sexual misconduct

Del Vecchio confident 'hearing will clear my name'

By David Kihara, Review-Journal

02-11-08 --  The special prosecutor for the Judicial Discipline Commission has accused Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio of sexual misconduct and abuse of power, including coercing a judicial assistant into having a sexual relationship with him. . . . The complaint alleges that the relationship dates to before Del Vecchio was a judge, when the judicial assistant, the daughter of his ex-wife, was 14. . . . Del Vecchio took nude photos of the girl when she was between the ages of 14 and 16 and had her perform oral sex on him, the 38-count complaint states. The complaint adds that Del Vecchio kept the photos after he became a judge but later destroyed them. . . . The document, which is not a criminal complaint, also accuses Del Vecchio of using racial slurs against black and Hispanic court staff and of coercing staff into buying him lunches and airline tickets. . . . The commission's special prosecutor, Mary Boetsch, filed the formal complaint with the Judicial Discipline Commission on Friday. . . . The investigation into Del Vecchio's behavior on the bench dates back to May 2006, when the Clark County Office of Diversity began looking into allegations of sexual harassment. The office investigates allegations of sexual, racial and religious harassment in the workplace.

MINNESOTA   

St. Paul / New lawyer is guilty in sex sting

Blaine resident enters plea, was among 5 men accused of soliciting kids on Internet

by Emily Gurnon, Pioneer Press

02-08-08 --  Patrick Joseph Farley was admitted to the Minnesota bar Oct. 26. . . . Six days later, the newly minted lawyer was soliciting sex online with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. . . . Farley, 33, of Blaine, one of five Twin Cities men arrested in December in an Internet sex sting, pleaded guilty Wednesday to soliciting a child over the Internet, a felony. . . . He admitted in a series of questions by Ramsey County prosecutor Kaarin Long that he had conversed online Nov. 1 with a St. Paul police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl named "Carlie." . . . In the online chat, Farley tells the person he "would love" to have her touch him sexually. When the "girl" responds that she's not sure she knows how, Farley offers to show her. . . . "You agree that that dialogue took place?" Long asked Farley in court. . . . . . . "Yes," Farley said. . . . Long asked if Farley realized he could jeopardize his law career by pleading guilty to a felony, and Farley said he did.

NEW YORK  

NYC tax lawyer disbarred after underage sex plea

02-08-08 --  The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division has reported the disbarment of a Manhattan tax attorney who admitted he repeatedly had sex with two underage girls after paying their mother. . . . James P. Colliton, 43, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to statutory rape and patronizing a prostitute and received concurrent sentences of one year on each count. He was declared a Level 3 sex offender. . . . Colliton had been in jail 19 months and was eligible for immediate release.

Decision In the Matter of James P. Colliton

NEVADA  

No Stay of Complaint Proceedings for Judge Accused of Improper Conduct

The Associated Press, Law.com

02-04-08 -- The Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission has rejected a request from suspended Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Halverson to stay proceedings on its 14-count complaint accusing her of improper conduct, sexual harassment and sleeping on the bench. . . . Halverson's attorneys also were told Thursday to respond to a commission subpoena, issued in October, to turn over documents sought by the discipline panel. The judge also was given 20 days in which to amend the formal response to the commission's complaint that she filed on Tuesday. . . . In the response, Halverson's lawyers said the accusations should be dismissed because she has "absolute immunity by virtue of her elected position as a Nevada district court judge." . . . The attorneys also said Halverson is entitled to protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act, and some of the counts against her violate the judge's federal rights "to be free from discrimination based upon an accepted qualifying disability."

January 2008

WASHINGTON   

Federal Way judge quits; talked of affair with lawyer

The Associated Press

01-11-08 --- A Federal Way Municipal Court judge has resigned after hosting a holiday party at which she claimed to be having an affair with a public defender who routinely appeared in her court. . . . Judge Colleen Hartl quit Dec. 19, less than a week after telling her guests -- including five court employees -- that she had sex with public defender Sean Cecil and displaying a text message in which he complimented how she looked in "tight jeans," Michael Morgan, the court's presiding judge, said Wednesday. . . . A statement from the city cited "personal and health" reasons for the resignation. . . . Cecil, who was admitted to practice law in 2006, was one of three public defenders who regularly handled misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases in Federal Way.

TENNESSEE  

'Graphic Fantasies' Audiotape Forces Judge to Resign

Bill Poovey, The Associated Press, Law.com

1-3-08 -- A Tennessee judge resigned last month after making a recording of fantasies so lurid that when the tape fell into the hands of the police and FBI, they thought they were listening to a torture session and believed it might be linked to a murder case. . . . Ultimately, investigators brought no charges against Circuit Judge John B. Hagler, and police said on Wednesday he is not a suspect in any investigation. . . . But the sensational case has led to allegations of professional retaliation, interdepartmental intrigue and strategic news leaks. . . . The recording was investigated by authorities more than two years ago, but its existence did not come to light publicly until just a few weeks ago, and details on the contents are only now coming out, at a hearing that began Wednesday on whether police must release the tape.

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