Public Defender Suspended After Drug Charges Revealed

An attorney with the Southern Oregon Public Defenders office was suspended today, after the office learned he's facing drug charges in Kentucky.

That word came in an anonymous mailing from Lexington, Kentucky, which was also sent to us here at News 10.

The mailing includes copies of the police report on the arrests of Justin Neal Rosas and his wife Mary in September of 2007, plus copies of the search warrant for their house in Lexington. Officers say they found more than 8 ounces of marijuana, marijuana plants, and suspected LSD at the home.

The case has not yet gone to trial.

The Kentucky charges came as a surprise to the head of the public defenders office in Medford, who says Rosas is suspended until more information becomes available.

The arrest happened after Rosas had passed the background checks to take the Oregon bar exam in July, 2007, but before he began work at the public defenders office later that year in December.