Sex With Clients, Sex Ratings List, 'Light Bulb Bombs' Put Sparks In Shawnee Democrat's Campaign For The State House

Sex with law clients, a sex ratings list, domestic disturbance police reports and "light bulb bombs" in his house are providing salacious sparks in Shawnee, where lawyer Joe Freeman finds himself whispered about as he seeks to win a seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Democrat Freeman came under fire in McClain County District Court in Purcell on July 26th, when Judge Noah Ewing presided over a hearing in which attorney Larry Balcerak of Pauls Valley sought to have Freeman disqualified as the attorney for Pamela Boyd (Casey), suing her husband for divorce.

Boyd admitted, under questioning, that she had sex with Freeman.

Balcerak represents William Frank Casey and brought the proceeding, he told the court, because he has "ethical obligations under Title 5 of the Oklahoma Statutes to bring before the Court...." and "where an attorney has violated some rules of professional conduct, as an officer of the court, I'm sworn to...under Rule 8.3...to bring that to the Court's attention and the Bar Association's attention." He added, "It is highly unethical under the Bar Association rules to have sexual relations with your client during cases. And this hasn't happened just once. This isn't an isolated instance. This case has been going on since June of '03 through the current. There's no excuse for that." Balcerak argued that Freeman should be disqualified as the woman's attorney because, "She is not, under our case law, entitled to an attorney of her choosing if it violates the integrity of the Bar and that's what we have, your Honor. It's not just an allegation. We have it in writing and you've heard testimony from independent witnesses in this case. So to protect the integrity of this case and of the Bar, we're asking the Court to force the disqualification of Mr. Freeman at this time."

Freeman represented himself at the hearing and questioned the witnesses.

The transcript of the hearing provides startling information in addition to the admission of sexual intercourse between attorney and client.

Testimony showed that Shawnee police took domestic disturbance reports from Boyd on several occasions, one of them involving an instance in which Freeman allegedly wrestled with Boyd as he tried to take from her a piece of paper that listed female law clients he was having sex with, and how he rated them. "The piece of paper that showed that he was having sex with clients and you were rated second to the last?" Balcerak asked at one point in pinpointing the source of the dispute.

Shawnee Police Detective Anthony Grasso testified that he was called to investigate a break-in at Freeman's home in August 2005. Asked if he found anything in the house that was suspicious, Grasso replied, "Well, we did find the lightbulbs had a liquid in there and we did have the bulbs removed by the bomb squad from Oklahoma County and those items were sent to the OSBI laboratory and sure enough, it was determined that there was gasoline inside the bulbs and they probably would have ignited if the light switch was turned on." The investigation into the lightbulb bombs remains open today.

There's no word on possible Oklahoma Bar Association action against Freeman, who in a January article in the Shawnee News-Star was listed as the municipal judge in McLoud. The article reported Freeman has practiced law in Shawnee since 1995 and is active in numerous community groups, including Project Safe and the Lion's Club. He also is a YMCA board member.

Freeman faces Republican incumbent Rep. Kris Steele in the election.

Photo of Joe Freeman by the Shawnee News-Star/Ed Blochowiak

Source: Transcript of Proceedings in the District Court of Garvin County, Pamela Boyd, nee Casey, Petitioner/Plaintiff vs. William Frank Casey, Respondent/Defendant, Case No. FD-03-125T, MOTION TO DISQUALIFY COUNSEL, reported by Rhonda K. Collini, CSR, McClain County District Court, Purcell.

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