Former Renton attorney accused of stabbing rival lawyer
A previous Renton legal defense lawyer nursed a yearslong grudge towards 7 legal professionals and judges he blamed for ruining his standing and lawful career, then ambushed a single of the lawyers, stabbing him in the back, King County prosecutors say.
Lee Rousso self-printed a e-book in 2021, yrs soon after his law license was suspended, detailing perceived wrongs versus him, alongside with homicidal fantasies involving the team of seven, who he referred to as the “Bar Card Lynch Mob,” court records display.
The principal target of Rousso’s ire was a 64-calendar year-aged longtime Seattle criminal defense lawyer, who he’s accused of stabbing in the back Dec. 13 in advance of fleeing to California, according to a very first-degree assault cost submitted Thursday. Pasadena law enforcement took Rousso, also 64, into custody a pair of hours immediately after a warrant was issued for his arrest, then booked him into the Los Angeles County Jail, records clearly show.
After Rousso is introduced again to Washington, prosecutors have asked that he be held in lieu of $5 million bail.
The seven attorneys and judges, “targeted as a consequence of their get the job done in the felony justice procedure, have viewed with substantial problem as the defendant’s anger has elevated, alternatively than dissipated, with the passage of time,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Gary Ernsdorff wrote in charging papers.
“His rage handles all seven but is generally focused on the target in this situation,” Ernsdorff wrote, referencing Rousso’s guide.
Ernsdorff wrote in charging papers that as Rousso’s lifetime crumbled — he shuttered his legislation exercise, marketed his relatives residence and appears to be unemployed — he “crossed the line from fantasy to actuality.”
Ernsdorff noted in charging papers that the wounded legal professional most likely prevented a additional major or deadly damage since he was donning a backpack when he was attacked.
A lady residing in Seattle’s Central District termed 911 the evening of Dec. 13, reporting her neighbor experienced been stabbed exterior his home and that his assailant experienced pushed away in a blue car or truck, according to charging papers.
Seattle police learned the wounded guy was a criminal protection attorney who had pushed house from his downtown law office environment and observed a man in a parked vehicle just north of his property, say the expenses.
As the attorney walked to his residence, he felt a blow to his again, yelled for assistance, and viewed the person he had witnessed get again into his vehicle and generate absent, the prices say.
The legal professional — who was in a position to offer the initial a few letters of the car’s license plate range — understood he experienced been stabbed after he felt liquid on his back, eradicated the backpack he was donning and observed a “Rambo-like” knife on the floor, according to the expenses. When at Harborview Professional medical Middle, the lawyer informed law enforcement he suspected his assailant may possibly have been Rousso, the fees say.
Approximately 10 years earlier, even though representing a male attractive a felony conviction, the legal professional found out that Rousso, the man’s trial attorney, hadn’t reviewed some evidence in the first situation, in accordance to the rates. As a final result, the attorney claimed Rousso experienced supplied ineffective counsel, the prices say.
Rousso later on sued the attorney and a further lawyer concerned in the appeals situation for defamation, saying they had ruined his status, in accordance to the prices. The defamation situation was afterwards dismissed, and Rousso was ordered to pay back the other attorneys’ legal service fees.
After the stabbing, the hurt lawyer contacted the other attorney sued by Rousso to inform her about the incident, the rates say. The lady and her husband later on instructed law enforcement they and their neighbors had also found a suspicious blue car or truck parked outside their Ballard household in the days right before the other legal professional was stabbed, say the fees.
Witness interviews, cellphone data, employment information from Rousso’s previous operate as an Uber driver, and buys designed on his state-issued electronic positive aspects transfer card positioned him near each attorneys’ homes and helped police construct a prison scenario against him, in accordance to the fees.
The 41-site charging doc consists of excerpts from Rousso’s book, quoting him as declaring he’s sure he could kill the male lawyer and get away with it and that he had dreams of disfiguring the woman lawyer.