County attorney moves to disqualify council President David Yates from Louisville police sex-abuse suit
Citing his conflict of interest as Metro Council president, the Jefferson County attorney's office is seeking to disqualify David Yates as an attorney in the Explorer sex abuse lawsuit that names the city of Louisville as a defendant.
County Attorney Mike O’Connell and his assistants said in a motion filed Wednesday that any damages awarded to his client “will flow from metro government, over which Mr. Yates has oversight."
The lawyers note that Yates already made a demand for $6 million for plaintiff N.C. that was rejected by the city.
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The motion also includes an opinion from a law professor who says it is "simply breathtaking that the president of the Metro Council would purport to act as lead counsel in a highly publicized and potentially costly claim against the metro government."
Responding in an interview Wednesday, Yates said he has no conflict in representing a former Explorer Scout, who is suing the city and two Louisville police officers he alleges sexually abused him while he was in the youth program.
More:Boy Scouts deny allegations in LMPD sex abuse suit
Yates called the motion a distraction and said, “I will not be deterred from exposing those individuals who harmed the youth and exposing those who failed to take action.”
Yates, who has indicated he will file suits on behalf of other former Explorer Scouts, added: “Regardless of what they throw at me, I will not participate in a cover-up. I have a moral and ethical duty to bring this to light. We’re not done until everyone who knew about this abuse and failed to act is held responsible.”
As he mentioned after filing the suit in March, Yates said he has obtained an ethics opinion from the Kentucky Bar Association saying it is permissible for him to sue the city. But he again declined to release it to the Courier-Journal, saying he will present it to Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald Burkman, who is presiding over the lawsuit, if she asks for it.
Related: Expert: Council president has conflict in sex-abuse case
The county attorney's motion says that Yates has “tellingly” refused to share the opinion.
The motion also cites an opinion from a legal ethics authority, Vincent Johnson, a law professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, who says that there is a “direct conflict” between the “undivided loyalty that Mr. Yates owes to N.C.” and his duty to the council under the ordinance.
“The entire situation is shrouded by an appearance of misuse of official power that threatens to corrode public confidence in government," Johnson says in an opinion.
The motion — filed by O’Connell, assistant Matthew Golden and Lisa Schweickart —notes that as a councilman, Yates “votes on budgets that fund the settlement of lawsuits and the payment of insurance and trust fund premiums.”
“Moreover,” the motion says, “if the claims pursued by Councilman Yates and the other plaintiffs he will represent exhaust the funds available, then he and his colleagues on the Metro Council will be in the position of approving a special assessment levied due to this lawsuit.”
Yates, a Democrat who represents the 25th District in southern Louisville, has said he has interviewed at least three other former Scouts who say they were abused and may file suits on their behalf. He said several others have approached him about representation.
The suit alleges that the police department concealed the allegations and failed to adequately train and supervise officers Kenneth Betts and Brandon Wood, whom N.C. has alleged abused him.
"This was very widespread abuse," Yates said.
Related: Kenneth Betts: Model officer tarnished by sex-abuse scandal
More: Brandon Wood has record dotted with reprimands
O'Connell's motion says that Yates touts his position on the council in his law firm bio and when he was trying to sign up N.C. as a client.
It says that on Oct. 16, in a Facebook message to N.C., in which Yates was pitching to represent him, he referred to his “ ‘unique position’ and role on the council.”
Yates said that line on his website is referencing his time as a former assistant attorney general. He said the motion shows the county attorney has gone from trying to expose the name of sex-abuse victims in public to attacking him.
After initially saying former Scouts who allege abuse should not be allowed to remain anonymous, O'Connell later backtracked.
The Courier-Journal reported after the suit that three leading authorities on legal ethics — law professors at Northwestern, George Mason and Stanford — also said it is a clear conflict for a council member to take his city to court.
The motion asks McDonald Burkman to remove Yates from the case. If she does, the case would presumably continue, with Yates's co-counsel, Tad Thomas, representing the plaintiff.
No trial date has been set for the suit but the judge has scheduled a hearing for June 30 to hear arguments on whether it will be dismissed.
She also is considering a motion to prohibit the disclosure of N.C.’s identity and to allow other witnesses to be identified only by their initials.
Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at 502-582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com. Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.