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Wash. lawyer suspended for sex with client
http://hosted.ap.org ^ | Apr 7, 11:18 PM EDT | ap

Posted on 04/09/2005 9:07:59 AM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican

SEATTLE (AP) -- The state Supreme Court on Thursday announced a two-year suspension for a lawyer caught having jailhouse sex with a triple-murder defendant she was representing.

Theresa Olson's suspension begins Friday; she must undergo a psychological evaluation before she can be reinstated.

Earlier, Olson and the state Bar Association had agreed to a one-year suspension, but the high court rejected the bar's recommendation.

In 2002, guards outside a King County Jail conference room saw Olson with her dress pulled up and her client, Sebastian Burns, standing behind her with his pants down. At the time of the encounter, Olson was 43 and married; Burns was 26.

Olson was removed from the case, and Burns was given new counsel. He was convicted last year, along with a friend, of beating the friend's sister and parents to death at their Bellevue home in 1994.

Olson's lawyer, David Allen, did not immediately return a call seeking comment after business hours Thursday.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: bluestatevalues; bubbaluvinshelawyer; felonsexisbest; jailhouserock; lawyer; themostcorruptstate
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To: Maigrey
She was just rectifying a complaint.

He said she was only providing a half-@ssed defense.

61 posted on 04/09/2005 11:08:45 AM PDT by SmithL (Proud Submariner)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
There's an obvious solution for her: move to Arkansas and run for governor before launching her national political career.
62 posted on 04/09/2005 11:14:51 AM PDT by Buzwardo
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To: digitalbrownshirt



Yeah, this is Washington State, isn't it?


63 posted on 04/09/2005 11:15:04 AM PDT by Fido969
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To: RedBloodedAmerican

Bride of Frankenstein.


64 posted on 04/09/2005 11:24:02 AM PDT by TheSpottedOwl (Free Mexico!)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican

He could have done better on the inside.


65 posted on 04/09/2005 11:39:31 AM PDT by Defiant (Amend the Constitution to nullify all decisions not founded on original intent.)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican

What kind of foundation pays an attorney to only have ONE client for three years?


66 posted on 04/09/2005 11:54:52 AM PDT by builder (I don't want a piece of someone else's pie)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican

Yikes! Definitely a triple-bagger.


67 posted on 04/09/2005 12:15:47 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (“I am happy, be it yourselves as well.”...Pope John Paul II, March, 2005)
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To: Fido969
Yeah, this is Washington State, isn't it?

Yep. It can only happen here in the Peoples Republic of Washinton. Where my vote for Rossi was ignored and where elections are rigged.

68 posted on 04/09/2005 12:21:45 PM PDT by Paul_Denton (Get the UN out of the US and US out of the UN!)
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To: maine-iac7

scary looking dude with a a wig in post 30


69 posted on 04/09/2005 12:22:58 PM PDT by isom35
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To: TigersEye
"No psych exam for the inmate?"

He was sent straight to the optometrist for an emergency vision test.

70 posted on 04/09/2005 12:44:03 PM PDT by Pablo64 ("Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion.")
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To: Mrs Mark
From injusticebusters (cited above):

The state's code of ethics for lawyers has long barred such relationships implicitly, but it wasn't until three years ago that it was amended to expressly forbid them. Legal experts say there are numerous reasons for banning such affairs, such as the possibility that emotional attachment might cloud judgment when it comes to legal strategy and that the client's defense could be jeopardized if the relationship turns sour.
Yes, the problems of jailhouse lawyers are mounting. Well, at least SHE had that problem, it seems.
71 posted on 04/09/2005 12:55:16 PM PDT by Gondring (Pretend you don't know me...I'm in the WPPFF.)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Q: What do lawyers use for birth control?

A: Their personalities.

72 posted on 04/09/2005 1:30:42 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Honoring Saint Jude's assistance every day.)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Q: What do lawyers use for birth control?

A: Their personalities.

73 posted on 04/09/2005 1:30:43 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Honoring Saint Jude's assistance every day.)
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002234926_olson08m.html

The four correctional officers testified that they saw Olson bent over a table with her skirt bunched up around her waist; they testified Burns was standing behind her and moving in a "sexual" way. They also testified that when they entered the room after observing the two for several minutes, Burns' pants were down.

Olson testified at last fall's hearing that she had developed romantic feelings for Burns during her representation of him, that she enjoyed the passionate hug that Burns gave her and admitted she should have resisted or ended the physical encounter. However, she denied having sex and said she did not know Burns had lowered his pants.

(snip)
74 posted on 04/09/2005 1:46:02 PM PDT by maggief
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To: RedBloodedAmerican

She described it as 'a hug gone bad.' I gotta work on some more 'hugs gone bad!' ;-)


75 posted on 04/09/2005 1:47:18 PM PDT by HitmanLV
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To: Pablo64

Yeah, he thought it was carrott-top


76 posted on 04/09/2005 1:49:22 PM PDT by Covenantor
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To: Nick Danger; Joe 6-pack

I would imagine that after some time in prison, sex with practically any female looks better than sex with bubba


77 posted on 04/09/2005 2:48:35 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (What does the wolf care how many sheep there be?)
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To: SauronOfMordor
"I would imagine that after some time in prison, sex with practically any female looks better than sex with bubba"

So you're thinking Michael Jackson is going to get off, or he already did?

78 posted on 04/09/2005 2:59:11 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: Joe 6-pack

LMAO


79 posted on 04/09/2005 3:01:57 PM PDT by kingattax
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Justices Richard Sanders and Jim Johnson both dissented, arguing that the suspension was too harsh in part because there was "no evidence" sexual relations had occurred - even though on Aug. 10, 2002, guards outside a King County Jail conference room saw her client, Sebastian Burns, standing behind her with his pants down and his penis erect. Her long dress was pulled up around her waist, the guards testified.

The state's Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers prohibit "sexual relations" between clients and their counsel, unless there was a pre-existing sexual relationship. Sanders argued that the term "sexual relations" refers only to male-female vaginal intercourse and cited a dictionary definition of "coitus."

Sanders' dissent was reminiscent of the definition former President Bill Clinton relied on when he famously denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky.

Looks like the "Affirmative Defense of Implied Buggery" didn't wash with the court.

80 posted on 04/09/2005 3:29:20 PM PDT by paleocon patriarch ("Never attribute to a conspiracy that which can be explained by incompetence.")
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