Two guards testify they saw Olson, client having sex
"I thought I saw two individuals having sex," said King County corrections officer Leander Glenn.
The guards' testimony came during the first day of a Washington State Bar Association disciplinary hearing that will help decide Olson's professional fate in a scandal that has endured in Seattle's legal and law-enforcement communities.
Olson is accused of having sex with client Sebastian Burns, later found guilty with friend Atif Rafay of killing Rafay's father, mother and sister in their Bellevue home.
The state bar claims Olson broke a legal-ethics rule adopted in 2000 that prohibits lawyers from having sexual relations with clients. It is recommending that Olson be suspended for one year. The final decision on the proposed sanctions rests with the state Supreme Court.
The hearing, expected to continue through Thursday, is held before a bar hearing examiner who will determine the facts of the case and whether any rules or laws were broken, and then recommend sanctions that could range from a reprimand to suspension or disbarment.
Olson, who had been widely described as a brilliant, committed and headstrong public defender, has admitted that she had inappropriate contact, but she denies that it was sexual contact.
"It was a hug gone bad," said her attorney, David Allen. "She regrets it."
Olson also argues that a reprimand is sufficient because it was "clearly a one-time thing," Allen said, and because the punishment should be comparable to that received by other lawyers who have been disciplined for sexual relations with clients.
Olson is expected to testify later in the week.
The hearing is being held in a large conference room at the bar offices in downtown Seattle.
Backed by family members and friends, Olson remained stoic through most of the testimony yesterday, which largely focused on determining whether sexual contact had occurred.
The testimony was sometimes so sexually explicit that many in the audience appeared uncomfortable. At one point, for example, corrections officer Glenn was asked to pose in the position that he alleges he caught Olson in.
But Olson's most overt reaction yesterday came when one of the deputy prosecutors on the murder case, James Konat, testified that he was "flabbergasted" by the allegations because he regarded Burns as a "creepy, scary and violent killer."
Olson shook her head.
At the time of the incident, in August 2002, Burns and Rafay were facing trial in the 1994 slayings. The pair were convicted of aggravated first-degree murders and are awaiting sentencing.
At the hearing yesterday, Glenn and fellow corrections officer Dexter Pasco testified that they saw Olson leaning over a table with her back to Burns. Burns' pants were down and he was exposed, Glenn testified. Burns was moving as if having sex, Glenn said.
Allen yesterday responded that the guards didn't see what really happened. He said Burns had hugged Olson from behind, and because Olson's back was to Burns she had "absolutely no idea" that his pants were down.
Allen also said that Olson had developed romantic feelings for Burns during hundreds of hours of trial preparation, but the feelings were put aside after the two discussed them and realized a relationship wasn't possible.
After the incident, Olson resigned from The Defender Association. King County has sued Olson and the firm for costs lost to the delay in hiring new lawyers. Today, a county public-defense official is expected to testify about the exact costs.
Olson and the state bar had agreed last year to settle the disciplinary case by suspending Olson's law license for a year.
In that proposed settlement, Olson admitted in documents that she'd had "sexual contact" with Burns, but she denied that sexual intercourse had occurred.
The state Supreme Court rejected the one-year penalty, and a state bar review board ordered the public hearing.
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com
