Conflict of Interest
 

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2...b546808655.txt

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:47 AM CDT
Former Polk County prosecutor faces license suspension

DES MOINES (AP) --- A former Polk County prosecutor faces a suspension
of her law license.

At issue is conflicts of interests that temporarily derailed hundreds
of juvenile-court cases in 2003.

Martha Johnson worked for the county attorney's office from 1999 to
2002 on child-welfare cases. In 2003, she joined a nonprofit law center
that provides legal representation for abused and neglected children --
including some whose cases she had worked as a prosecutor.

According to the Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court,
Johnson joined the Youth Law Center in Des Moines with assurances that
the center would prevent her from taking cases that she handled for the
county attorney's office.

However, Johnson soon began appearing in court on behalf of children
whose cases she had worked as an assistant county attorney. After five
months, a few private lawyers challenged the center's actions, alleging
that Johnson was working two sides of some cases.

A judge disqualified the center from representing hundreds of children
in juvenile courts, which resulted in those cases being transferred to
court-appointed lawyers.

Johnson resigned a short time later.

The commission ruled that Johnson violated the state's
conflict-of-interests regulations and recommended the Supreme Court
suspend her license for six months.