----- Original Message ----- From: "B." <docile_body at yahoo.com>
[Yeeeeeeeehaw! -B.]
Ala. lawmaker punches Senate colleague
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Still more on the "lawyers behaving badly" front:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/318711_fightinglawyer07.html
Thursday, June 7, 2007 Last updated 12:35 a.m. PT
Seattle lawyer suspended for scuffle Defense attorney got into it with prosecutor in court By TRACY JOHNSON P-I REPORTER
It was an ordinary courtroom argument over a plea deal until a Seattle defense lawyer punched a prosecutor, a scuffle that left a bailiff slightly hurt and was caught on video.
Now attorney Oscar Desper III is not allowed to practice law for 60 days for the June 2004 incident.
His suspension -- recommended by the Washington State Bar Association and imposed by the state Supreme Court -- takes effect Thursday. He must also be evaluated by a psychologist with expertise in anger management.
Desper and then-King County Deputy Prosecutor Dave Culbertson were arguing in Superior Court over what sentence Desper's client should face on charges that he assaulted a Seattle police officer and possessed cocaine.
Their squabble grew louder and angrier. Desper stepped closer to Culbertson as they exchanged heated words. Culbertson reached out and put his hand on Desper's chest as if to hold or push him back, according to witnesses.
Desper allegedly asked onlookers, "Did you see that?" before clenching a fist and taking a swing.
"No one touches me. No one touches me," Desper repeated, according to bar association documents.
Culbertson, who was struck in the chest, replied, "I told you to get out of my face," the documents state.
A bailiff had been about to ask the attorneys if they were ready for the judge, who hadn't yet entered the courtroom, when she was suddenly knocked into her computer, according to her testimony about the incident. She was left with a bruised arm.
The altercation was captured by King County Superior Court surveillance video -- images of which later showed up on the Internet.
Reached Wednesday, Desper, 47, said the incident was "just really not news" and "got blown out of proportion." He declined to comment further.
Culbertson -- who left the prosecutor's office to start his own practice in 2005 -- was cleared in the bar association investigation, which found that the video and witnesses' statements supported his version of what happened.
In a disciplinary hearing, Desper testified that Culbertson had told him something to the effect of "get off me, boy," which the African American attorney took as a racial slur. Other witnesses said they didn't hear such a comment.
A hearing officer noted that Desper cooperated with the investigation, has a good reputation in the legal community and felt bad about what he did.
In addition to performing criminal defense work, Desper once represented workers in a class-action discrimination suit against The Boeing Co.
He was reprimanded and censured in 2000 for depositing a client's $1,500 settlement into his general account and disclosing a client's secrets, according to the bar association.
P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson at seattlepi.com.