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Inmate Says Lawyer Abused Her in Jail

A former inmate claims her court-appointed attorney sexually assaulted her repeatedly in an Oregon jail, even during a meeting her jailers set up so they could catch him in the act.

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) – A former inmate claims her court-appointed attorney sexually assaulted her repeatedly in an Oregon jail, even during a meeting her jailers set up so they could catch him in the act.

Amy Hall sued her former attorney Christian Day, his former law firm Warren & Sugarman, and Multnomah County, in Multnomah County Court. Day represented her from March 26, 2015, through April 17 that year, according to the complaint.

Warren & Sugarman fired Day on May 1, 2015, according to an Oregonian newspaper report. A Multnomah County sheriff’s spokesman told the Oregonian at the time that Day had been barred from visiting inmates unless another attorney was with him.

The Oregon State Bar suspended Day’s law license for three years, beginning May 26, 2015, according to the complaint.

Hall says in the lawsuit that Day sexually assaulted her repeatedly in the jail, “touched plaintiff’s genitals and forced her to touch and fondle his genitals.” She calls Day’s conduct offensive and threatening.

The complaint states: “Defendant Day used his status as an attorney to threaten and intimidate plaintiff, including the threat to Plaintiff that her failure to cooperate with his demands would result in a negative outcome for her pending court case.”

Hall says she told Multnomah County officials what was happening, and they “designed and carried out an operation in an attempt to capture defendant Day's unlawful conduct, which required plaintiff to participate.”

Despite her “apprehension and fear of continued sexual abuse,” she says, “law enforcement officials convinced plaintiff to meet with defendant Day one more time under the assurance that she would be protected from further sexual abuse.”

So she did, but the officials “failed to intervene to stop the sexual abuse,” and he did it again, she says in the complaint.

Day pleaded no-contest to misdemeanor harassment charges in October 2015. He was not sentenced to two years probation.

Hall seeks $500,000 in damages for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. She is represented by Jeff Napoli in Portland.

The Warren & Sugarman law office did not return a phone call requesting comment.

Day got his Oregon law license in 1993, according to The Oregonian. He worked as a deputy district attorney for three years, then spent most of his career as a criminal defense attorney. He never had been disciplined before the allegations were made in this case, The Oregonian reported on May 11, 2015.

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Categories / Civil Rights, Government, Personal Injury

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