Lawyer admits ‘intimate encounter’ with judge

FEDERAL WAY — A public defender has acknowledged having a “single intimate encounter” with a Federal Way Municipal Court judge who resigned after boasting of the relationship at a holiday party.

Sean Cecil, 31, wrote a letter to the state bar association saying he met Judge Colleen Hartl three times in December — first for drinks, then lunch and finally dinner at her home Dec. 13, where the dalliance occurred. Cecil routinely handled cases in Hartl’s courtroom.

Michael Morgan, the court’s presiding judge, issued an order last month barring Cecil from representing indigent clients in Federal Way Municipal Court, and he filed a complaint against Cecil with the bar association. Cecil’s letter to the bar acknowledging the relationship followed that complaint.

In the letter, Cecil said he handled eight cases in front of Hartl after the encounter.

Cecil’s admission prompted Morgan to lift his order barring Cecil from appearing in the court.