Kansas Supreme Court disciplines lawyers who recently served as lawmakers

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday revoked the law license of a sitting lawmaker and placed a former lawmaker on probation.

The Supreme Court immediately suspended Rep. Carl Maughan (R-Colwich) as part of an attorney disciplinary proceeding stemming from a drunken driving case in which he represented a client despite a conflict of interest. The matter is separate from his ongoing criminal proceedings for alleged drunken driving in Topeka.

Maughan’s one-year suspension begins immediately, and before his law license can be reinstated, Maughan must undergo a reinstatement hearing.

The court also suspended former Rep. Mark Samsel, R-Wellsville. However, his two-year suspension was stayed on the condition that he successfully completes two years of probation. If he does, no reinstatement hearing will be required.

MP Carl Maughan had conflict of interest in legal dispute

The court said the disciplinary action against Maughan was due to a conflict of interest in representing a client in a murder and drunkenness case.

Maughan represented Bret Blevins in Sedgwick County District Court following a 2016 car crash that left two people dead and others injured.

But Maughan was also an attorney for Blevins’ girlfriend, who was the other passenger in the vehicle that sped through a residential area and ran a stop sign, causing the fatal crash. Blevins and the girlfriend had been drinking alcohol and taking methamphetamine before the crash, and both accused each other of being the driver.

It was the girlfriend and her husband who hired Maughan to represent Blevins. The girlfriend then testified against him in court.

The jury found Blevins guilty on all counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, and sentenced him to nearly 61 years in prison. The Kansas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his convictions in 2021 because Blevins had not received effective assistance of counsel.

Blevins has since signed a plea deal pleading guilty but maintaining his innocence and was sentenced to about 17 years in prison. He has also filed a lawsuit against Maughan for attorney malpractice.

The Supreme Court’s decision states that although Maughan had agreed to the alleged violations, even if he had not, the evidence before the hearing committee clearly showed that the misconduct he was accused of violated several professional rules.

During the disciplinary process, Maughan failed to comply with the court’s probation rules, prompting the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator to change its recommendation from probation to a six-month suspension. When Maughan failed to appear for a hearing in Supreme Court in May and failed to file a required affidavit beforehand, the office changed the recommendation to a one-year suspension.

Former MP Mark Samsel hit a student while working as a substitute teacher

The court stated that Samsel’s disciplinary action stems from an incident in April 2021 in which “Samsel kicked and shoved a high school student and grabbed another high school student by the shoulders while serving as a substitute teacher.”

Videos of the classroom incident showed him ranting about suicide, sex, masturbation, God and the Bible, and one student told a detective that Samsel kicked him in the testicles.

Samsel was charged in Franklin County with three counts of assault, which was reduced to disorderly conduct, and he also voluntarily surrendered his substitute teaching license.

He entered into an agreement with the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator, admitting to violations of professional conduct while saying that an untreated mental disorder caused the misconduct. They had recommended a one-year suspension.

“After careful consideration, we believe that a two-year suspension is the appropriate disciplinary measure under the circumstances,” the Supreme Court said. “We recognize that the defendant’s mental health condition contributed to his misconduct and that he has made significant progress in this regard following diagnosis and compliance with a successful treatment protocol. However, given the nature of the underlying conduct, we believe a suspension of more than one year is warranted.”

However, the suspension will be lifted if Samsel successfully completes a two-year probationary period during which he will be under supervision.

Speaking before the Supreme Court during his hearing in May, Samsel apologized for his “terrible” behavior, saying it was “a manic episode due to bipolar disorder that I was unaware of.”

MP Carl Maughan had conflict of interest in legal dispute

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