seattlepi; "Theresa Olson, the former
King County public defender. Accused of
having sex with a client in a jail interview room public defender said she knew she
should have pulled away when her client, a jail inmate charged with three murders, gave her what she described as a hug that got out of hand."I was surprised when it began ...
I did allow it to continue and I should not have. Olson is
accused of having sex with Sebastian Burns, 29, two years ago in a small King County Jail visiting room, where she often met with the inmate to go over documents and discuss his upcoming triple-murder trial. Who was later found guilty with friend Atif Rafay of the 1994 slayings of Rafay's father, mother and sister in their Bellevue home. The state bar, which says Olson broke a
legal-ethics rule that prohibits lawyers from having sexual relations with their clients, But Olson, 45, has
denied they had sex, as alleged by the jail officers who interrupted the encounter. When questioned by a Bar Association attorney yesterday, she acknowledged that she did not pull away from Burns and found his advance flattering, exciting and thrilling.She said she had developed an attraction to Burns "at a point in time" and that he was attracted to her, too. She said she discussed it with him two or three times and recognized that it was inappropriate. Olson began to cry when King County Public Defender testified that the incident between Olson and Burns
"trashed" the reputation of all public defenders. Then Harper, too, began to cry. Harper said she feels strongly about the public defense system and its constitutional importance, and that the incident between Olson and Burns especially hurt the reputation of female public defenders. She said
other inmates began referring to the jail visiting room as a hotel. Olson is expected to resume testifying today, when her attorney, David Allen, will question her. Part of Olson's testimony was taken behind closed doors yesterday, after hearing officer David Thorner asked that observers leave the room. Certain evidence in the matter is under a protection order, attorneys say, including financial documents related to the expense of Burns' defense and other undisclosed items. The Bar Association is seeking to suspend Olson's license to practice law for one year. Allen contends she should be reprimanded.yesterday in a bar disciplinary hearing against her.
Estimated that the incident cost the county about $150,000 more than it would have had Olson continued to represent Burns. Bar association lawyers inadvertently released that dollar amount during the hearing, although the information had previously been sealed."
Well this sure takes the eyes off the Teachers for awhile, huh! In a way I feel bad for her because she must not feel good about herself, to do something like this. She's a Lawyer come-on she knows, criminals will do anything to get off. And I can bet you he did this to her because he thought he would surely get off his charges if he roped her in. And all he did was get himself a pat from all his prison-buddies, and She distoryed her life for a brief-fling....How stupid!!!