CRIME & COURTS

Former prosecutor loses law license for hitting client

Grant Rodgers
grodgers@dmreg.com

A former Iowa prosecutor who had a sexual relationship with a client and pleaded guilty to hitting her in the face will have his law license suspended for at least 18 months, a significantly lesser punishment than sought by the commission that recommends lawyer discipline.

West Des Moines criminal and family law attorney Anthony Zane Blessum deserves the suspension after pleading guilty to assaulting a client, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote in the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling. Blessum, 57, served as the Madison County attorney for more than a decade beginning in 1986.

In its ruling, the court found that Blessum violated ethics rules by having a sexual relationship with a client, then attacking her during an argument. The former prosecutor also mismanaged the woman's money by taking it out of his firm's account before he did any legal work for her, Mansfield wrote.

"Blessum's behavior shows considerable disrespect for the law and for the legal system," he wrote.

Blessum was not available to speak to a reporter on Friday morning, said a person who answered the phone at his law office.

The client, Melissa Stender, first hired Blessum in 2008 to represent her in a divorce. She paid Blessum a $1,000 fee, which he deposited in his client trust account. A week later he took the money out of the account before doing any legal work on the divorce proceedings, Mansfield wrote. Iowa Court Rules require that attorneys keep any money that clients pay in advance in a trust account until work has been done.

In March 2011, Stender again came to the former prosecutor for help with her will. The two began a sexual relationship that turned violent on June 11, 2012, according to the ruling. Stender went to the attorney's Waukee house that night because she was concerned he was seeing another woman.

During an argument, Stender threw a cooking pan at Blessum as she tried to take a prescribed anxiety pill, according to the ruling. Blessum hit her in the face in an attack. He later said it was to prevent her from taking the pills to commit suicide.

In a 911 recording, Stender could be heard saying "Please let me go. ... I beg you to let me go." She called out for help when Blessum opened the door for a police officer, the ruling said. Stender was taken to the emergency room with a black eye and bruising after calling police.

The 18 month suspension is significantly lower than the recommendation from the Grievance Commission of the Supreme Court of Iowa. The commission is responsible for making final reports to the supreme court on attorney discipline. Last year, the commission recommended suspending Blessum's law license for at least four years.

In a letter, the grievance commission wrote that Blessum showed little remorse for his crime and that his actions were similar to "the domestic-assault defendants he used to prosecute."

Photographs of Stender after the assault were "disturbing," Mansfield wrote. But, the former prosecutor has no history of other violence-related arrests or domestic abuse, a factor the justices considered in their decision.

"We do find as a mitigating factor that Blessum had no history of violence or domestic abuse," Mansfield wrote. "Blessum also has no record of public discipline."

Blessum was charged on Jan. 14, 2013, with misdemeanor assault causing injury, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. The charges came after a November 2012 report in The Des Moines Register on the fact that no charges had been filed against Blessum in the attack.

Blessum pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge as part of a plea agreement.

Waukee Police Officer Derrick Spoerry wrote in a police report that he chose not to arrest Blessum the night of the incident after a phone conversation with an on-call assistant Dallas County Attorney.

Court records show that Stender filed a lawsuit against Blessum in December 2013. The case is scheduled for a jury trial in July.