Attorney Colleen Janssen of Raleigh, NC; ethical leprechaun

The State of North Carolina presented Colleen Janssen with a law license in 2005 after he graduated from Hamline University of California Law School.

Colleen’s misconduct took place while she was employed as an Assistant Wake County District Attorney in Raleigh.

In one matter, Colleen was assigned to prosecute the case of Bashiri Sandy and Henry Surpris, both of whom were subsequently convicted of robbery.

After the trial, the two defendants appealed their convictions by arguing that they had been denied their constitutional right to a fair trial due to the fact that Colleen had pressured a Raleigh police detective to delay bringing charges against the key prosecution witness in her case until after the trial of Sandy and Surpris.

Both prior to and during the trial, Colleen failed to disclose her the drug charges that should have been filed against her key witness to defense counsel. As a result of her egregious misconduct, a three-judge appellate panel unanimously agreed to overturn the robbery convictions. In doing so they detailed the misconduct of Colleen as aforementioned in their decision.

Shortly after the convictions were overturned, Colleen’s boss Wake County DA Lorrin Freeman suspended her with pay. Subsequently, Colleen resigned from her job as an assistant Wake County District Attorney.

And lastly, this is just another in many cases wherein a prosecutor has displayed a willingness to obtain a conviction regardless of the manner in which he/she obtains it and whether or not the defendant is in fact guilty.

As we speak (ca. July 2016, Colleen practices in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.