Kan. prosecutor faces complaint in abortion fight

Eds: UPDATES with reaction from former AG Kline.

By JOHN HANNA

Associated Press Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- An ethics complaint stemming from investigations of abortion providers in Kansas has been filed against a former assistant of ex-Attorney General Phill Kline.

The complaint, made public Monday, alleges Stephen D. Maxwell misled a state judge in Topeka to further an attorney general's investigation of abortion providers in 2003-07. It also alleges that Maxwell improperly withheld important information in 2007-08 from a grand jury investigating a Planned Parenthood clinic in suburban Kansas City.

Abortion opponents suggested the complaint is part of an ongoing effort by some state officials -- along with the clinics -- to protect abortion providers and discredit Kline's work. Kline said the investigations of providers ultimately will be vindicated.

"Someday, the full story of what has transpired behind closed doors in Kansas will come out," Kline said in an e-mail statement.

But Peter Brownlie, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said the complaint vindicates the clinics' criticism of the investigations.

"This was a political witch hunt conducted by anti-choice extremists and should never have started," Brownlie said.

The complaint is from Disciplinary Administrator Stanton Hazlett, the official overseeing investigations into allegations of attorney misconduct, and Hazlett's chief deputy. They filed it Friday, and the Board for Discipline of Attorneys has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 17-18.

A board panel will decide whether Maxwell violated the state's code of conduct for attorneys and, if it does, make a recommendation to the Kansas Supreme Court. The court has the power to revoke an attorney's license but could order lesser sanctions, or none.

Maxwell is now a senior assistant district attorney in Reno County, where a receptionist said he was on National Guard duty this week and unavailable. He did not return a telephone message.

He worked for Kline as an assistant attorney general in 2003-07, then as an assistant district attorney when Kline was Johnson County DA in 2007-08.

"He doesn't deserve this kind of vindictive persecution motivated by political considerations," Kline said.

Kline, an anti-abortion Republican, received national attention as attorney general for his investigations of the late Dr. George Tiller, of Wichita, and Planned Parenthood's clinic in Overland Park. Kline lost his re-election bid in 2006 but became Johnson County's district attorney, where he continued to investigate the Planned Parenthood clinic.

Tiller was acquitted in March on 19 misdemeanor charges of violating state restrictions on late-term abortions, filed by Kline's successor as attorney general. The Johnson County did not indict the Planned Parenthood clinic, but Kline filed 107 criminal charges of his own, accusing the clinic of falsifying records and performing illegal abortions, and that case is pending.

Kline, his former subordinates and abortion opponents have argued there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to justify the investigations of the providers, noting that several district court judges who've reviewed evidence have allowed them to go forward. But the providers and abortion rights advocates have attacked Kline over how the investigations were handled.

In February, Hazlett notified an attorney for Kline, Maxwell and another former Kline subordinate that the three would face ethics complaints. That attorney no longer represents any of the three, and Maxwell is the only one so far to face a complaint.

The complaint alleges that in October 2003, he filed an application to open a court-supervised inquisition with a Shawnee County judge, using statistics to suggest abortion providers weren't properly reporting sexual abuse of children. Soon after, the complaint alleges, Maxwell learned the statistics were "obviously flawed" but didn't correct his application.

The complaint also alleges that Maxwell appeared before the same judge in 2006 and discussed the case of a 10-year-old abortion patient, suggesting the abuse of that patient may not have been reported properly. The complaint notes the abuse was reported and the abuser, prosecuted successfully.

In 2007, the complaint alleges, the presiding juror of the Johnson County grand jury asked Maxwell, as its legal adviser, to supply background on relevant court decisions. The complaint says Maxwell failed to provide a federal court decision -- involving both Kline and Maxwell -- that could have posed a problem for the investigation.