Kline’s defense rests in attorney ethics case

By Earl Glynn on July 21, 2011
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TOPEKA ─ Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline spent over four hours testifying on Thursday in defense of attorney ethics charges he was facing for allegedly misleading a grand jury in Johnson County over three years ago.

Deborah and Phill Kline arriving for the third day of attorney ethics hearings this week in Topeka

Kline reviewed many details about the instructions his Johnson County District Attorney’s office had given a grand jury convened to address seven issues outlined in a citizen petition to investigate Planned Parenthood in Overland Park.

Kline countered charges by retired Judge Larry McClain from Tuesday that his office had “demonized” Planned Parenthood.  Kline said nothing in the record indicated “we demonized” and nothing speaks of “baby killer.”  McClain served as special counsel to the grand jury.

Kline said protecting children had been the focus of his work as Attorney General and Johnson County District Attorney, not the issue of abortion.

At one point when testimony was repetitious Disciplinary Administrator Stan Hazlett objected asking “didn’t we talk about this yesterday?”  Hazlett’s objection was sustained.

During cross examination by Hazlett, Kline repeatedly mentioned the actions of the grand jury were independent of the District Attorney’s office and vice versa. Both had “independent authority.”

Kline had concerns that the grand jury had taken actions without a formal vote by all members.  Kline said the “grand jury takes action by votes” and the power of the grand jury was through its compulsory process.

Kline was also concerned that presiding Johnson County Judge Kevin Moriarity  became a witness in the proceedings since Moriarity prepared a spreadsheet comparing KDHE and SRS records about abortions at Planned Parenthood.

Kline was critical of an attempted informal agreement between the grand jury and Planned Parenthood that was orchestrated by the jury foreman and special counsel without knowledge of the full jury.  Kline said the proposal was an unacceptable collaboration with the subject of a criminal investigation.

When asked if he “knowingly misled” the grand jury Kline replied “I did not.”

Mitigating Factors

Instead of closing remarks when the defense rested, the hearing panel agreed to hear several witnesses out of order to consider mitigating factors in the event Kline was found guilty of the ethics charges.

Five spoke favorably about Kline, with three appearing in videos.  One spoke both in person and in a video.

Nancy Jensen, Wichita, appeared in person but spoke in a prepared video about the abuse she suffered at the Kaufman House, a group home for mentally ill adults in Newton.  Jensen credited Kline’s action for closing the facility and stopping the abuse.    Jensen said “Phill Kline saved our lives.”

In the video Nancy Jensen credits Kline with stopping the abuse at the Kaufman House in Newton and prosecuting the Kaufman’s.

Marjorie Webb, 91, Merriam, spoke about her personal experiences with Phill Kline as a student at Shawnee Mission Northwest.  They had maintained contact over the years and she  invited him to speak to her classes a number of times.  Webb said Kline was well received by her students and helped motivate them since Kline was “inspired by his fervor for the principles of democracy and citizen participation.”  Webb described Kline as “very honest and fair” in his presentations and he was the “soul of integrity.”

Webb said Kline and her “did not agree on many issues” yet she said “he  was very honest.”

Webb described herself as an “advocate for women’s right” and she had been a Democrat “all my life.”  Documents show Webb was an underwriter for a ProKanDo PAC fundraiser in August 2004.

Webb said she was a former chair of Johnson County Democratic Party and that Kevin Moriarity was her successor.

Irene Thompson, former CEO of University of Kansas Hospital Authority for 11 years, spoke in support of Kline.  The audio of her video presentation was not audible from the back of the hearing room.

U.S. Judge Eric Melgren was the U.S. Attorney for Kansas when Kline was Kansas Attorney General.  In a video presentation  Melgren described several cases where his federal office and Kline’s state office worked together in the prosecution of several cases, including the Kaufman House and the murder of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.

Melgren described Kline as “very professional” and never saw any inappropriate prosecutions by Kline.

Retired Judge Robert Aldrich in his video presentation said “Phill Kline is an honorable man … he is a principled man.”

Aggravating Factors

Disciplinary Administrator Stan Hazlett chose not to discuss aggravating factors against Kline on Thursday. Hazlett said he would make such remarks as part of his closing statement on Friday.

Final Hearing Day

Kline requested 2.5 to 3 hours for his closing statement that he was making himself instead of his attorneys.  Presiding hearing panel chair Jo Ann Butaud granted Kline 2 hours for his this closing statement on Friday, which was more than the 75 minutes originally planned.

After the hearing in response to questions from the press Butaud said there would be no decision on Friday and hinted the panel’s deliberation could take weeks.

Butaud estimated she had 7 or 8 boxes of documents from the case to sort through.

Related

Contact: Earl F Glynn, earl@kansaswatchdog.org, KansasWatchdog.org

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Posted under Column A, Ethics, Kansas Supreme Court.
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