Pull Olson's license for 2 years, bar says

The former public defender who explained it was merely a "hug gone bad" after jail guards said they saw her having sex with a client should lose her license for two years and undergo a mental-health evaluation before she can practice again, the state bar association said yesterday.

The 14-member disciplinary board of the Washington State Bar Association this week adopted the recommendations of a hearing examiner who acted as a judge in the case brought by the lawyers association against Theresa Olson, 46.

Olson was allegedly seen having sex with Glen Sebastian Burns, 29, who was facing three counts of aggravated first-degree murder, in the King County Regional Jail on Aug. 10, 2002. She has denied having sex with Burns.

The bar association, which is charged with policing the behavior of its members, accused Olson of violating professional codes of conduct and said her headline-making scandal gave the legal profession a "well-publicized black eye."

The proposed sanctions against Olson are subject to approval by the state Supreme Court. They were approved by a majority of the disciplinary-board members but opposed by three members who wrote dissenting opinions.

One of the dissenters said Olson's license should be suspended for three years, another argued that the mental-health evaluation was an unfair requirement. A third dissenter said Olson should be disbarred for the grave damage her behavior caused the legal profession.

"For the most part, the public does not understand the role and importance of criminal-defense lawyers," wrote Frederic Fancher. "Ms. Olson's conduct only provides titillating fodder for those who have maintained that lawyers are without principle, integrity, morality or honesty."

Four King County correctional officers testified that they saw Olson and Burns apparently having sex.

They said they observed the couple for a few minutes before entering the small room used by attorneys and their clients. When they entered, the guards said, Burns stepped back and they saw that his pants were down.

Olson said that Burns came up behind her to give her a passionate hug that she should have resisted. But she denied having sex and said she did not "know anything that was going on with Mr. Burns' pants."

The hearing examiner, David Thornton, ultimately determined that Olson "knowingly and intentionally engaged in inappropriate, intimate physical contact, including sexual relations, with her client, Mr. Burns."

In his ruling, Thornton also said Olson's behavior damaged Burns, who was subsequently convicted with his co-defendant, Atif Rafay, for the 1994 murders of Rafay's mother, father and sister, caused financial injury to county taxpayers who bore the cost of hiring new attorneys for Burns and embarrassed the legal profession.

A civil lawsuit by the county against Olson and her former employer, The Defender Association, to recoup the additional legal costs incurred by her indiscretion reportedly is in mediation.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com