Angus Lee to face disciplinary hearing

OLYMPIA - Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee will have a disciplinary board hearing with the state Bar Association on Jan. 20 to discuss possible ethics violation involving disputes with former deputy prosecutor and political rival Albert Lin.

The state Bar Association filed paperwork on Oct. 16 requesting the hearing.

Lin filed an ethics complaint with the bar association in January 2010 shortly after losing a special election for prosecutor against Lee. Lee fired Lin after the election and Lin claimed Lee forced him to do unethical work and was dismissed unfairly, according to court documents.

Lin also filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against Grant County and Lee, according to court documents.

After receiving the complaint the state bar association could have dismissed the claim, admonished Lee, or requested a disciplinary board hearing; they chose to request the hearing, according to court documents.

Lee said he actually requested the hearing process be sped up to finally put this issue to rest. He said Lin has "sour grapes" about losing the election and that is the reason for the lawsuit.

He pointed to opinions by two attorneys who counsel lawyers on potential ethics violations stating Lee did not violate any rules, as evidence.

Art Lachman, who co-wrote Washington's "Law of Lawyering," dismissed Lin's accusations, stating Lee did not create a conflict of interest when he asked a deputy prosecutor to review a file involving an alleged hit and run accident caused by Grant County District Court Judge Richard Fitterer, according to court documents and previous Columbia Basin Herald articles.

Attorney Peter Jarvis, who was previously on the Washington State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Committee, also stated in court documents Lee did not violate any state rules for attorneys.

Micky McFarland, who represents Grant County in Lin's lawsuit said it "should have dismissed a long time ago."

He said Lee agreed to have the bar complaint heard before Lin's lawsuit against Grant County to protect the county.

Lin would not answer questions about his job or the lawsuit and directed all questions to his attorney Lewis Card. Card said he could not comment on the case.

According to a records request, Grant County has paid more than $50,000 since 2009 in attorney's fees to Duvall attorney Leland Ripley to defend Lee in ethics complaints.

In April, Lee's counsel requested and was granted a motion requiring Lin to undergo a mental evaluation. Lin's attorney requested and was granted a motion to have the results of that evaluation remain confidential except to court officials, according to court documents.

The state Bar Association would hear preliminary arguments on Dec. 29 and the hearing from Jan. 20-22, according to court documents.