Ken Kratz, "Sexting D.A.," Denied Wis. State Lawyer
MADISON, Wis. (CBS/AP) The Wisconsin Department of Justice is refusing to represent disgraced former District Attorney Ken Kratz, who's facing a discrimination lawsuit after he tried to "sext" his way to an affair with a domestic violence victim he represented.
The former Calumet County D.A. resigned in October amid an uproar over the text messages and claims of misconduct by at least four other women.
The state isn't required to foot the bill for Kratz's attorney because he was not acting within the scope of his employment when he committed the alleged misconduct, Gov. Jim Doyle's attorney wrote in a letter Wednesday to the state Attorney General.
Kratz's attorney Robert Bellin said in an e-mail that he was shocked by the governor's decision not to appoint a state lawyer.
If Kratz wasn't acting as a governmental agent, then he couldn't have violated the woman's civil rights as is alleged in the lawsuit and it therefore must be dismissed, Bellin said.
Kratz sent Stephanie Van Groll 30 text messages in three days last year while prosecuting her ex-boyfriend on charges of beating and nearly choking her to death.
A week after he resigned, Van Groll filed a federal lawsuit in Milwaukee claiming he violated her constitutional rights by sending her the text messages.
Van Groll alleges in the lawsuit that Kratz's behavior was sexually harassing, discriminating and part of a pattern dating back years. It claims her right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution was violated and seeks unspecified damages.
Other women who have accused Kratz of inappropriate behavior include a law student who says he sought a relationship after agreeing to help her seek a pardon for a drug conviction, and a woman who says Kratz invited her on a date to a victim's autopsy.