Vic Kohring, The Plaintiff

Fairbanks--

From Mark Regan:

Former State Representative Vic Kohring (R.-Wasilla) is suing his attorney, John Henry Browne, and Browne filed a request Thursday afternoon to withdraw as Kohring’s lawyer. It’s not malpractice. It’s an auto accident. According to Browne’s motion, shortly before Kohring’s trial in October 2007, attorney Browne was driving a rental car, with client Kohring as a passenger, when Browne ran a stop sign and got into an accident. The statute of limitations in tort cases is two years, and so not long before that deadline, Kohring filed a personal injury suit in state court naming Browne as the defendant. Browne’s motion complains about Kohring’s not having told him up front that he was naming Browne as the defendant, and goes on to make the (fairly obvious) point that this sort of lawsuit makes it difficult for Browne to continue to represent Kohring in the criminal case.

Not mentioned in Browne’s motion to withdraw is the fact that there is an October 30 deadline for filing a new-trial and dismissal motion in Kohring’s criminal case. You’d expect that Judge Sedwick will extend this deadline while Kohring obtains new counsel. The delay will push Vic Kohring’s case further out of sync with the case of ex-State Rep. Pete Kott (R.-Eagle River); Kott’s new-trial and dismissal motion was filed in late September and the Government’s response is almost due.

--Mark Regan