A former deputy of Phill Kline is denying allegations of ethical lapses.
Earlier this week, Eric Rucker, the former chief of staff for Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, filed a response denying allegations lodged by Kansas' disciplinary administrator that Rucker participated in, among other things, a scheme to identify adult patients of the late George Tiller's Wichita abortion clinic.
The disciplinary administrator claimed Rucker lied to the Kansas
Supreme Court, claiming he knew nothing about efforts to identify adult patients
of George Tiller's now-closed Women's Health Care Services as well as lied to the Kansas Supreme Court in 2005 about the inquisition.
Among the claims Rucker allegedly made to the Kansas Supreme Court:
subpoenaed, records of live births by girls under 16 (when they allegedly didn't);
wasn't seeking "the identity of any adult woman who had obtained
services by either of the clinics, nor will we ask for that identity"
(when Rucker allegedly knew of the attempt to cross-reference the hotel
records against the redacted abortion records obtained from the Kansas
Department of Health and Environment);
the AG's office did not know the names of any children
who had received abortions (when they knew the names).
In his response, Rucker claims that identifying underage patients "was
key to the law enforcement objectives of the investigation to determine
whether evidence of sexual crimes against children was going unreported
and unprosecuted."
Rucker also goes on to say if Jared Reed,
then an agent in the AG's office, tried to ID adult patients, then he
did so without Rucker's knowledge and was not under "any request or
order to do so."
Rucker also admits knowing about "the effort"
to ID employees of Tiller's clinic and the names of guests of a Wichita
La Quinta. He says they were after the identities of minor patients who
may have been traveling to Tiller's clinic.
Rucker also denies
making any false or misleading statements during oral arguments during
the "Alpha Medical Clinic v. Anderson" and "state v. Tiller" cases.
Kansas Watchdog also has a "motion to reconsider," released by Rucker's attorney, Caleb Stegall.
In that internal document, Stegall notes an "investigative Report'
dated May 21, 2008, and created by the disciplinary administrator's
investigators. The investigators were charged with investigating
whether Kline was lying when he claimed he was not seeking the names of
adult patients of the abortion clinics. Stegall writes that the report
"clearly concludes that those allegations were not supported by
probable cause" and "we believe the record supports the notion that
respondent Kline did not seek the identities of adult women."
Stegall also cites a report by Judge David King,
who was appointed as a special master by the Kansas Supreme Court, and
concluded that Kline's subpoenas of hotel records were to identify the
identities of minor children who were patients of Tiller's clinic.
Further, Stegall also cites an opinion by Judge Clark V. Owens,
stating Kline as AG was seeking to "Identify the patients under the age
of 16 that had obtained abortions to see if the defendant had filed the
SRS report."
Rucker
is scheduled to go before the Kansas Board for the Discipline of
Attorneys on April 27 and 28.
A complaint was filed against Kline last week.
Rucker Response
Showing 1-1 of 1
Since you printed the ethics charge perhaps you would like to print the investigative report that clears Kline of wrongdoing. The Supreme Court did not release this report even though they've had it for 20 months. Why? Don't have a copy? I'll happily mail it to you to save you the trouble of actually investigating.
Patsy
like
dislike
