If an assistant district attorney is married to a deputy sheriff in the same county, must the prosecutor treat cases the spouse investigated differently?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1986. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Opinion E-86-1 addressed an assistant district attorney whose spouse is a deputy sheriff in the same county, and asked whether the standards of conduct applicable to attorneys require the prosecutor to treat cases the spouse investigated differently from those investigated by other law enforcement personnel. The committee answered no, provided the spouse's official conduct does not itself become subject to possible prosecution. Apart from that situation, the committee was aware of no ethical reason why the prosecutor's official contact with the deputy spouse should differ from contact with the spouse's colleagues.
The committee pointed to its earlier Opinion E-85-2, which addressed a criminal defense lawyer married to a sheriff's deputy and concluded there is no absolute prohibition against the lawyer representing clients investigated by the spouse. Because a prosecutor and a deputy spouse are far less adversarial than a defense lawyer and a deputy spouse, the committee found substantially less concern from the standpoint of legal ethics.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1986, before Wisconsin's July 1, 2007 adoption of the revised Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (the state's Ethics 2000 update), and it analyzes conduct under the former Code. Personal-interest conflicts of this kind are now analyzed under SCR 20:1.7 / Model Rule 1.7. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Must a prosecutor handle cases investigated by a spouse who is a deputy sheriff differently?
A: The committee concluded no, provided the spouse's official conduct does not itself become subject to possible prosecution; otherwise the contact need not differ from that with the spouse's colleagues.
Q: When would a conflict arise?
A: The opinion identified one circumstance: where the deputy-sheriff spouse's own official conduct becomes subject to possible prosecution.
Background and rules framework
The opinion analyzed a personal-interest conflict arising from the marriage of a prosecutor and a law enforcement officer in the same county, applying the former Code's conflict principles (SCR 20.24). That concern is now addressed by SCR 20:1.7 / Model Rule 1.7, which governs conflicts arising from a lawyer's personal interests and relationships.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Wis. SCR 20.24 / Model Rule 1.7 (conflicts of interest; personal interests) (former Code provision)
Other opinions cited:
- Wisconsin Formal Op. E-85-2 (criminal defense lawyer married to a sheriff's deputy)
See also
- WI Ethics Op. E-89-3: Lawyer Spouses and Imputed Disqualification
- WI Ethics Op. EF-11-02: Part-Time Prosecutor Conflicts
- WI Ethics Op. E-86-13: Lay Employee Shared by the DA and Court Offices
Source
- Landing page: https://www.wisbar.org/formembers/ethics/pages/formal-opinions.aspx
- Original PDF: https://www.wisbar.org/formembers/ethics/Ethics%20Opinions/E-86-1.pdf
Get today's answer for your situation
You just read a 1986 opinion on this question. Ezel checks the current rules of professional conduct in your state and answers your specific situation, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the rules it relies on.