Former Deputy Kansas AG Seeks To Have Attorney Removed From Ethics Panel

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 09 Mar 2010 - 3:00 PDT

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Former Kansas Deputy Attorney General Eric Rucker is attempting to have Patricia Dengler, a Wichita attorney, disqualified from a panel considering an abortion-related ethics complaint against him, the AP/Fort Scott Tribune reports. Rucker is accused of, among other things, lying to the Kansas Supreme Court in arguments during a 2005 abortion case involving an investigation of the late George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, and a Planned Parenthood clinic between 2003 and 2008. Rucker's ex-boss, former state Attorney General Phill Kline, also is facing an ethics complaint.

A three-member committee of the Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator is scheduled to hear Rucker's case on April 27 and April 28. However, Rucker's attorney, Caleb Stegall, on Thursday filed a request to have Dengler removed from the panel. According to Stegall's filing, Dengler failed to report that she is a registered agent for the Physicians and Surgeons Exchange, which acted as an answering service for Tiller. Stegall said that Dengler had an obligation to report the connection, whether or not she felt it was relevant.

Ron Keefover, a board spokesperson, said that Dengler will decide if she will remove herself from the case. If she does not, the chair of the board will determine Dengler's participation (AP/Fort Scott Tribune, 3/5).

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