Chief public defender suspended
NWI Times
Jun 19, 2001
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/chief-public-defender-suspended/article_e84a53b8-6183-59ec-884eca342b0111ac.html
VALPARAISO -- Porter County Chief Public Defender James Tsoutsouris has been slapped with a 30-day suspension for engaging in a sexual relationship with a client seven years ago.
While the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission determined the relationship violated the ethical guidelines governing lawyers, Tsoutsouris said Monday he respectfully disagrees.
The consensual relationship in no way interfered with the handling of the client's cases, he said, which in his opinion, is the deciding measure in these types of matters.
"I'm vehemently opposed and I stand on my moral grounds," Tsoutsouris said. "I'm a model for this community. It just angers me. It's not going to impact my life."
The decision will require that Tsoutsouris cease practicing law for a 30-day period beginning July 23. The purpose of the delay is to minimize the impact on his current case load, said Donald Lundberg, executive secretary for the disciplinary commission.
It is unclear whether the penalty will have an impact on his service as public defender.
Tsoutsouris, who has served as the county's chief public defender since 1971, currently provides those services through a contract with county judges. When contacted Monday afternoon, Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber said he knew nothing about the suspension and would first need to review the details before deciding how to proceed.
The current contract does not expire until 2003, Webber said, but there is a clause that allows it to be terminated early by either party with just 90 days notice.
"It's kind of shocking," he said of the news involving his chief public defender.
The relationship began in 1994, while Tsoutsouris was representing the unnamed client in cases involving child support modification and a dissolution action against her second husband. Both cases were handled as part of his private practice and not among his responsibilities as a public defender.
"The respondent did not inform the client how a sexual relationship between them might impact his professional duties to her or otherwise affect their attorney/client relationship," according to the notice of disciplinary action.
The relationship ended a few weeks after it began, and yet the client hired Tsoutsouris a third time in 1996. A year later, she sought psychological treatment, during which time the relationship was discussed and the complaint filed.
Why the complaint was filed, Tsoutsouris could not explain. Yet he pointed out it was filed just one month before he married his current wife. He was divorced at the time of the relationship.
"I had an innocent romantic encounter seven years ago -- period," he said.
While the disciplinary commission sees things a little differently, the group found no evidence the relationship impaired Tsoutsouris' representation of his client. This, in conjunction with Tsoutsouris' clean professional record of 33 years, convinced the group to settle with the 30-day suspension.
