Skip to main contentIn Hollywood, lawyers fall for their clients and walk off into the sunset, but for Portland defense lawyer Edie Rogoway, two months of romance ended with a call to police.
The bizarre tale, which concluded last week, shows how, for lawyers, love can not only turn to terror, but also threaten their career.
Last summer, Rogoway, who comes from a prominent Portland family, was two years out of law school, a fun-loving amateur comedian who, as a public defender, represented those with no means of their own.
In June, she was assigned a new client, David Scott Blansett. Tall, lean, broad-shouldered and square-jawed, Blansett was an earnest-sounding guy whose drug habit kept putting him back in jail. Rogoway was defending him in a theft case.
According to Oregon State Bar documents and police records, they became friends, then lovers, and he vowed to change his ways. When he wasn't staying in her apartment, he lived at the Danmoore, a low-income hotel in downtown Portland, where he progressed through a drug treatment program.
In November, things turned bad. State bar documents show Blansett became jealous, and Rogoway tried to end it. Enraged, he twice broke into her apartment, assaulting her and stealing some of her belongings; later, he left stalker-like messages on her voicemail.
She went to the same police she'd often argued against, asking for help and claiming Blansett had held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.
He, in turn, filed a complaint with the bar that accused her of having sex with a client--Blansett himself--which would be a clear violation of state bar rules. As evidence, Blansett submitted a roll of film showing them spending Labor Day weekend together on the coast, including a picture of them hugging on the beach under a romantic sunset. Their attorney-client relationship did not end until Sept. 14.
Through her attorney, Bob Elliott, Rogoway responded that although she and Blansett had discussed having sex as early as Sept. 13, physical relations didn't actually begin until Sept. 24. The complaint, said Elliott, was a clear attempt to get her to drop the charges.
Last week, the two parted as they had met, in a Multnomah County courtroom. Only this time, the public defender was on the side of the prosecution.
On Thursday, in midtrial, Blansett, after giving Rogoway a mournful stare, suddenly interrupted the proceedings and agreed not to contest the charges--essentially pleading guilty--in exchange for a reduced sentence.
When the deal was struck, Judge Michael Marcus gave the pair a chance to speak.
"I just wanted him to stay away from me and get help," Rogoway, 31, told the handful in attendance, in a choked-up voice. "I just want him to know--I know this sounds strange--that I'm sorry it turned out this way."
Blansett, sniffling, replied, "It is my deepest regret that we didn't remain friends. I wish you all the luck in your life."
Later, Blansett's defense attorney, Kerry Chipman, told WW, "He still loves her, and she still loves him, is what I think."
Blansett will serve 54 months in prison. As a condition of his plea bargain, upon his release he can never contact Rogoway or her family again.
While waiting to be led away, Blansett told Rogoway he'd send the state bar a letter withdrawing his complaint and saying he'd lied. Her ethics attorney, Elliott, says he got a call from the bar on Monday saying the case would be dropped.
WWeek 2015