New & Noteworthy...

Police sting on Lawyer Ruled Improper

April 28, 2007

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. -- A town police officer's attempt to entrap a lawyer on an obstruction of justice charge should not have happened, a judge has ruled.

In a ruling handed down this past week, Vermont District Court Judge Karen Carroll said police did not supply enough evidence to justify another judge's approval of the sting attempt against Windham County lawyer Eileen Hongisto.

"A review of the affidavit in support of the search warrant in this matter reveals that it lacked the necessary probable cause to support the belief that Ms. Hongisto was involved in criminal activity or that evidence of a crime would be obtained through a phone call to her by an undercover police officer," Carroll wrote.

Hongisto represented a defendant in a domestic assault case, Terry E. Russ, who ended up entering into a plea agreement. But while the case was pending, police launched an obstruction of justice investigation when they ran into trouble locating witnesses, including the victim.

Authorities were taping Russ' jailhouse phone calls and heard him, his girlfriend -- the victim of the assault -- and his mother talk about comments Hongisto allegedly made that if the state's witnesses don't show up for trial charges are usually dropped.

Police saw that as potential obstruction of justice and got Vermont District Court Judge Katherine Hayes to approve a warrant allowing a detective to call Hongisto, pose as a witness and ask he he should testify.

Hongisto declined to take the bait, told the man she was not his lawyer and that if he was subpoenaed, he would be required to go to court.

The case raised concern among lawyers around Vermont, who said it could hurt their ability to provide their clients with factual information -- for instance, that charges often are dropped when the state can't produce its witnesses.

If that were a crime, "You wouldn't be able to give accurate and sound legal advice to your client," Hongisto said Friday.

"I feel totally vindicated," she said. "I hope by going as far as we did go with this that we protected defense attorneys."

© Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.