Paralegal Dates Defendant, Then Resigns, But Public Defender Stays on Case

A paralegal came close to derailing San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi's represention of an alleged assailant in a gang fight by secretly dating the defendant for over a year.

But the potential conflict has been averted: An effort by the prosecution to introduce evidence of a confrontation between the defendant and the mother of his two children, in which the paralegal also was involved, was unsuccessful, the Recorder reports. Paralegal Megan Jordan, 24, who initially denied the rumored relationship, has since admitted it and resigned about a week after the Oct. 2 incident involving the defendant.

Adachi acknowledges that the public defender's office was told in June that Jordan had a relationship with the defendant, Pounloeu Chea. However, when he spoke with Jordan about the claim, she said there was no such relationship.

"I never saw any indication that they were having a relationship, I was completely surprised by this," Adachi tells the legal publication.

He is now picking a jury in the gang-fight assault case, and is expected to make an opening statement before the end of the month.