By BRAD COOPER
The Kansas City Star
TOPEKA | Phill Kline?s hearing on ethics charges ended with a flourish Friday as the disciplinary administrator asked for his disbarment and the former Kansas attorney general offered an emotional defense of his abortion investigations.
Pacing back and forth and gesturing with both hands, Kline made an impassioned plea to the three-person disciplinary panel for attorneys.
He appeared close to tears as he talked about his passion for the law and how his ultimate goal was to protect children from sexual abuse.
?I stand here having not violated any rules of ethics,? Kline said.
?I love the law. The law has been my life. The law is so important we cling to it like a promise. I held onto the law throughout.?
After finishing, Kline knelt on the floor next to his seated wife and the two embraced.
At stake is Kline?s reputation, his law license and the final verdict on his long investigation of Planned Parenthood and Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot to death in 2009.
Stan Hazlett, the state disciplinary administrator, said Kline should be disbarred.
Hazlett argued that Kline has insisted on due process for himself, but is not ?willing to afford other people the same? .?
Kline, a Republican, has served as both Kansas attorney general and Johnson County district attorney. He now teaches law at Liberty University in Virginia. His Kansas law license is inactive, but a finding that he violated his professional ethics could make it more difficult for him to join the bar in another state.
If the panel finds Kline in violation of ethics rules, it will recommend any discipline to the Kansas Supreme Court. Punishment could range from censure to disbarment.
Kline argued that the disciplinary administrator failed to meet the burden of proof, saying after the hearing that the complaint against him was ?political theater.?
?Prosecutors do the things I?m accused of every day,? Kline said. ?We share evidence. We move forward with investigations when we have suspicions. Every bit of evidence was legitimate. He doesn?t even challenge that.?
Friday marked the 12th day of hearings that began in February: a grinding paragraph-by-paragraph and line-by-line battle over hearing transcripts, court rulings, subpoenas and other legal records.
Kline became so animated Friday that his own lawyers reminded him to calm down. At one point, the woman taking the hearing transcript asked Kline to slow down so she could keep up.
Kline?s investigation of Planned Parenthood and Tiller began shortly after Kline became attorney general in 2003 and continued when he became Johnson County district attorney in 2007. Kline accused the abortion providers of violating state law and covering for pedophiles by not reporting pregnancies of underage girls.
Among other things, the allegations contend that Kline:
?Ignored warnings by the Supreme Court not to talk about the case by discussing it on Bill O?Reilly?s Fox News show.
?Mishandled redacted medical files by storing them in an open garage, a private vehicle and the dining room of an investigator.
?Selectively presented information to a Johnson County grand jury investigating Planned Parenthood.
Hazlett said Kline constantly blamed others for the charges involving his handling of the Johnson County grand jury.
Kline blamed the grand jury for not working hard enough and cutting outside deals with Planned Parenthood to get records, Hazlett said. He said that Kline also cast aspersions on the special legal counsel advising the grand jury and the judge overseeing its work.
To reach Brad Cooper call 816-234-7724 or send email to bcooper@kcstar.com.
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