Oregon DA & SwiftVets

[Scorpious_Maximus]

Just wanted to share this series of emais;


As you all know -


<snip>
Local veterans call for attorney's resignation

August 23, 2004
- OREGON CITY, Ore. - Clackamas County veterans are calling for the resignation of an assistant district attorney who appeared in television ads attacking Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military record.

In the ad, and a sworn affidavit, Al French says he served with Kerry and that the Purple Heart medals Kerry received were obtained under false pretenses.

However, French admitted later that he did not witness the events mentioned in the affidavit and was relying on what his friends told him.

Veteran Don Stewart says he believes it was outrageous that French would try to smear Kerry's military record.

"Mr. French signed an affidavit defaming John Kerry's military service and then he admitted that he had no first-hand knowledge of what he swore to," Stewart said on Monday. "Someone who the community trusts to carry out the law cannot be lying in sworn, legal affidavits."

On Monday, French would neither confirm nor deny the reports that he did not witness the events mentioned in the affidavit.

The Oregon State Bar says they have received enough complaints to look into the matter, with the main question being whether French violated ethics.

(From KATU & AP reports)





I sent an email and got the following response. They are on it.



Mr. XXXXXXXXXXX: I am forwarding your inquiry to the bar's Client Assistance Office, which handles initial intake and review of matters such as yours. You should hear from that office shortly.

Jeffrey D. Sapiro
Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Counsel
P.O. Box 1689
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
[phone], Ext. 319




And Later the same day,





Alfred J. French III, Esq.
Clackamas County DA's Office
Clackamas County Courthouse
807 Main Street, Room #7
Oregon City, OR 97045

Dear Mr. French:

The Oregon State Bar has received the enclosed correspondence and e-mails from numerous sources. Pursuant to Bar Rule of Procedure 2.5(a), the Client Assistance Office reviews all inquiries regarding lawyer conduct to determine whether there is credible evidence of misconduct. Some of these concerns may implicate the provisions of DR 1-102(A)(1) and DR 1-102(A)(3).

Many of the inquiries contend that your affidavit and the advertisement make representations that are misleading. Please explain what role you played in preparing and producing the affidavit and the advertisement, and your intent in doing so.

In order for me to make a fair and informed analysis, I would like to have your account of the matter on or before September 9, 2004. I am able to grant an extension of the time to respond for good cause if requested before the deadline.

A copy of your response will be sent to the inquiring parties. All material submitted by the parties in the course of this investigation is public record and both parties will receive copies.

After I review all documentation and information gathered in this matter, if I feel that further investigation is warranted or that there is credible evidence of a violation of the disciplinary rules, the matter will be referred to Disciplinary Counsel’s Office for further handling pursuant to BR 2.5(a)(2). Your failure to respond to this request will also result in the matter being referred to Disciplinary Counsel’s Office.

Sincerely,



Scott A. Morrill
Assistant General Counsel
Extension 344





Sorry for the length, and thanks for the indulgence.

[swag]

1. Beautiful, especially the Morrill letter to French

What are you doing there, Mr. French, going around and signing phony affidavits?

Thanks for the great update.

[Scorpious_Maximus]

3. Surprised

I was amazed at how quickly they responded. I fired off an email this morning when I read the story, because, like, the guy is in a position of "the public trust".

They answered the same day.

My email was fairly generic about "How this man can never be trusted again with the public trust, because he signed a sworn affidavit that turns out to be lies."


If anyone is interested in throwing gas on this fire, please do so.



[e-mail]
Jeff Sapiro, Disciplinary Counsel

http://www.osbar.org/discipline/discipline.html

[Spazito]

2. Excellent!

The first big step has been taken, French now has to respond "on the record". Great news!

[Scorpious_Maximus]

4. Sun Tzu

I believe this is how we fight this battle. Attack the attackers.

[msanthrope]

5. Scorpius--a suggestion......

I would send this guy, Morrill a copy of every single news source in which this asshole or the Swift Boaters are mentioned, helpfully highlighted.

I hate to suggest this, but a thorough search of the freepers might be in order. I suspect French is either posting there, or people close to him.

[Hepburn]

10. IMO, it would be very sweet...

...if he were outed on the Freeper board just like Corsi was. And since there are complaints pending before the Oregon state bar, I think they would interested in anything that he is posting and/or saying in public. If he is posting on the Freeper board and it is anything "good," I think the bar would burn his ass for this.

[Hepburn]

6. Check this out about that Slimeball

Swift boat veteran placed on leave

A prosecutor who called John Kerry a liar in a political commercial has acknowledged that he lied about an extramarital affair with a secretary.
...

French's former boss, James O'Leary, said he asked French about the rumored affair about 10 years ago, but French denied it. O'Leary said he would have fired French if he'd admitted the relationship because it violated office policy.

French, 58, admitted to The Oregonian that he had the affair and denied it to O'Leary.

"It is an indiscretion that occurred during my employment," he said.

http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D84NF2800.html

BTW: I could not care less about the affair, but the fact that he lied about it IMO goes to prove that this guy is willing to lie about anything.

And....congratulations on getting the great response to your complaint against French! Way to go!

[Hepburn]

7. Seems like other attorneys are filing complaints about French, too

Lawyers complain about prosecutor who appeared in ad

A county prosecutor who appeared in an ad criticizing Sen. John Kerry’s war record has become the target of complaints to the Oregon Bar Association, alleging that he made misleading statements in a sworn affidavit.

The bar has received 28 complaints in three days against Assistant Clackamas County District Attorney Al French, bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh said.

French appeared in an ad, sponsored by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that accuses Kerry of lying about his actions in Vietnam and the medals that he was awarded.

...

That formed the basis of several of the complaints filed by fellow attorneys, some of whom said in their letters that their objections were not motivated by politics.

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=85725

[cindyw]

8. The party of responsibility (ha ha) will finally beheld accountable.

A lawyer really should know better than to lie on a legal document. Maybe is we can hold these people accountable for lying it will send a message that under a Kerry administration people will be held account for lying. Now if we could only hold our leaders accountable and punish CEO's who steal people's livelihood with harsher penalties than the guy who steal bread because his family is part of Bush's poor.

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Sweeeeet.

It's about time someone is held responsible for these lies.