SEATTLE — A Federal Way Municipal Court judge has resigned after hosting a holiday party at which she claimed to be having an affair with a public defender who routinely appeared in her court.
Judge Colleen Hartl quit Dec. 19, less than a week after telling her guests — including five court employees — that she had sex with public defender Sean Cecil, and displaying a text message in which he complimented how she looked in “tight jeans,” Michael Morgan, the court’s presiding judge, said Wednesday.
A news release from the city cited “personal and health” reasons for the resignation.
Cecil, who was admitted to practice law in 2006, was one of three public defenders who regularly handled misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases in Federal Way. On Wednesday, Morgan issued an order barring him from representing poor defendants in the court. Morgan has also filed a complaint against Cecil with the state bar association.
Even after admitting the affair at the Friday night party, Hartl showed up for work the next Monday morning and presided over several cases handled by Cecil, Morgan said. At lunchtime that day, Morgan — who attended the party but left before Hartl’s admission — was advised of the relationship by a court staff member who witnessed the statement. Morgan suggested that Hartl not sit on any cases that afternoon, and she resigned two days later.
Hartl, 46 and married to a lawyer, does not have a listed phone number and could not immediately be reached for comment. Morgan said that Hartl later claimed she misspoke at the party because she was drunk — contending she did not actually sleep with Cecil, but acknowledged having a relationship.
The duration of the relationship was not immediately clear, but Morgan said Cecil had handled cases at the court longer than Hartl had been on the bench there.
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