The Wichita Eagle [17]reports today that Eric Rucker, former top assistant to Kansas State Attorney General Phil Kline, faces a formal ethics complaint that he made misleading comments before the Kansas Supreme Court in attempts to prosecute Dr. George Tiller for violations of Kansas law for which Tiller was repeatedly found innocent.
The complaint, released by the Kansas disciplinary investigator, alleges that Rucker made misleading comments before the Kansas Supreme Court and used flawed statistics to back up a criminal case.
"The allegations stem from Kline’s investigation of abortion clinics," reports the Eagle. "Rucker’s complaint will go before a disciplinary panel in April; the panel will determine whether Rucker violated ethical rules for attorneys and will decide whether to recommend any disciplinary actions to the Supreme Court. Punishment could range from nothing to disbarment."
The complaint against Rucker alleges that he knew data used to support the investigation of abortion clinics in district court was flawed but took no “action to correct the misrepresentations previously made to the court,” according to the [17]Eagle [17].
Also, the complaint accuses Rucker of making false statements before the Kansas Supreme Court.
Rucker represented Kline before the court in 2005. At the time, the court was considering a lawsuit by abortion providers intent on stopping Kline’s investigation. Rucker told the court that his office wasn’t trying to identify adult women who received abortions.
However, the office was reviewing the guest list of a Wichita hotel used by patients of George Tiller, and cross checking it with state abortion data. Investigators were also recording the license plates of cars in Tiller’s parking lot in an attempt to identify their owners.
During a meeting last year with the state’s judicial disciplinary administrator, Rucker said he didn’t know about these efforts during his arguments before the high court. But according to the complaint released today, the disciplinary administrator’s office determined that his explanation was “false and misleading.”
The Eagle further notes that "Kline investigated both Tiller’s clinic and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, accusing both of violating state restrictions on abortion. So far, none of the cases has resulted in a conviction."