PORTLAND — The Washington County district attorney and a defense attorney face potential sanctions from the Oregon State Bar over their handling of a mentally ill man’s aggravated murder case.
State bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh said the bar’s Professional Responsibility Board decided Saturday to charge the two lawyers with ethics violations. A three-person panel will hear the bar’s case against District Attorney Rob Hermann and defense lawyer Robert Axford.
A retired judge filed complaints against the two attorneys in December, alleging they and a judge agreed to an invalid court order committing a schizophrenic defendant to the state mental hospital indefinitely. The order has been dismissed, but the defendant remains hospitalized under a civil commitment.
