The_RANDy_Corporation
03-10-2001, 01:53 PM
This guy should be disbarred.
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Mar 8, 2001 - 02:39 PM
Prosecutor Admits Posing as Public Defender to Capture Ax Murderer
The Associated Press
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - A prosecutor admitted posing as a public defender to help deputies capture an ax murderer, even though he knew it might violate ethical codes.
Chief deputy district attorney Mark Pautler told a three-judge disciplinary panel Wednesday that he wanted to "take a killer off the streets."
Defense lawyers want Paulter disbarred, saying he shouldn't have deceived Death Row inmate William "Cody" Neal.
"The notion that if the crime is bad enough, government lawyers are entitled to lie is a flawed one," said Jeffrey Pagliuca, who called for suspension of Pautler's license. "Any attempt to justify this kind of conduct is the epitome of arrogance."
Paulter, 58, is accused of violating attorney rules of professional conduct by introducing himself as a public defender when he persuaded Neal to surrender on July 8, 1998.
Neal, 44, later pleaded guilty to killing three women with an ax and was given three death penalty sentences. He also confessed to raping a fourth woman and forcing her to watch one of the murders.
"I'm quite comfortable with what I did that night. What I did that night I did to save lives and take a killer off the streets," Paulter said.
A judge previously ruled that Pautler, a lawyer for nearly 27 years, committed misconduct by engaging in intentional deception.
Neal is in jail while the sentences are automatically appealed.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Friday. The panel has 30 days to issue its recommendation.
------------ Joshua 24:15
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Mar 8, 2001 - 02:39 PM
Prosecutor Admits Posing as Public Defender to Capture Ax Murderer
The Associated Press
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - A prosecutor admitted posing as a public defender to help deputies capture an ax murderer, even though he knew it might violate ethical codes.
Chief deputy district attorney Mark Pautler told a three-judge disciplinary panel Wednesday that he wanted to "take a killer off the streets."
Defense lawyers want Paulter disbarred, saying he shouldn't have deceived Death Row inmate William "Cody" Neal.
"The notion that if the crime is bad enough, government lawyers are entitled to lie is a flawed one," said Jeffrey Pagliuca, who called for suspension of Pautler's license. "Any attempt to justify this kind of conduct is the epitome of arrogance."
Paulter, 58, is accused of violating attorney rules of professional conduct by introducing himself as a public defender when he persuaded Neal to surrender on July 8, 1998.
Neal, 44, later pleaded guilty to killing three women with an ax and was given three death penalty sentences. He also confessed to raping a fourth woman and forcing her to watch one of the murders.
"I'm quite comfortable with what I did that night. What I did that night I did to save lives and take a killer off the streets," Paulter said.
A judge previously ruled that Pautler, a lawyer for nearly 27 years, committed misconduct by engaging in intentional deception.
Neal is in jail while the sentences are automatically appealed.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Friday. The panel has 30 days to issue its recommendation.
------------ Joshua 24:15