Ex-Judge Who Blabbed About Alleged Affair With PD is Censured
A former municipal judge in Washington state who announced at a holiday party that she was having an affair with a public defender who frequently appeared in her Federal Way courtroom has been censured by a disciplinary panel.
Colleen Hartl, 46, also was ordered by the Commission on Judicial Conduct not to seek or serve in another judicial job without its express permission, reports the Seattle Times.
In a written statement, the commission criticized Hartl’s behavior at the holiday party, her participation in an intimate relationship with the public defender, and her attempts, after the party, to minimize the damage being caused by her comments at the event, the newspaper writes.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the party, which was attended by five courthouse employees, was held Friday, Dec. 14. Presiding Judge Michael Morgan reportedly was among the guests, but left before Hartl’s revelations. He heard about them the following Monday at lunchtime, however, at which point the lawyer with whom Hartl had said she was involved had already appeared before her in several more cases. She resigned from her $127,000-a-year job two days later.
Both she and the public defender, Sean Cecil, 31, say they had only a single sexual encounter, on Dec. 13, reports the News Tribune.
Hartl said she became “highly intoxicated” at the Dec. 14 party, the newspaper notes.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge Blabs About Affair With Lawyer, Then Quits”
ABAJournal.com: “Banned Lawyer Gets Reprieve re Alleged Affair With Judge”
