Albuquerque Journal

Lawyer says his ex-client is a child molester

Attorney describes alleged confession in dispute over fees

- BY THOMAS J. COLE JOURNAL INVESTIGAT­IVE REPORTER

Leon F. Alford was acquitted at trial in 2012 on charges of incest for allegedly engaging in sex with a teenage female relative. The following year, Alford was acquitted at trial on charges of repeatedly raping the girl.

Alford, 67, of Albuquerqu­e, has since clashed in court with his trial attorney, D. Chipman Venie, in a dispute over legal fees. Venie’s response: Alford told him after the trials that he had been having sex with girls, including family members, since at least 1966.

“Leon Alford is a child molester and fraud,” Venie wrote in response to a court petition filed in January by Alford and his wife, Sandra. The petition seeks an accounting of the legal fees due Venie and the value of what he has received from the Alfords in cash, services and property.

Leon Alford’s current attorney, Daymon Ely, said in an interview last week that Alford isn’t a child molester and never told Venie that he is.

Venie had this explanatio­n for his unusual court filing alleging his former client is a sex offender:

“Mr. Venie has a right to defend the Alfords baseless claim/petition against him,” he wrote in a document filed in state District Court in Albuquerqu­e.

Venie said Leon Alford, in suing him, waived any privilege he had as a client to keep communicat­ions with the attorney confidenti­al.

Ely said Venie should be disbarred for the court filing. He also said Alford didn’t waive any attorney-client privilege by filing the petition for an accounting of legal fees and payments.

“The D.A. went after him (Alford) more than once. He was acquitted. What else can

a guy do to prove his innocence?” the attorney said.

In a court document, Ely called Venie’s filing “an outrageous and untrue pleading designed solely for the purpose of intimidati­on in violation of his ethical and fiduciary duties to his former clients.”

Ely tried but failed to have Venie’s response either stricken from the court record or sealed from public inspection.

Alford has said the incest, rape and other charges stemmed from an effort by the girl and other family members to extort money from him.

In an unrelated case, a state District Court judge in Los Lunas ordered last week that Venie stand trial on battery and other charges related to his shooting of a homeless man in Venie’s office in 2012. A former attorney for Venie said the man had assaulted Venie and his wife.

Alford’s cases

A state District Court jury in Albuquerqu­e in October 2012 acquitted Alford on three counts of incest for allegedly engaging in sex with a 17-year-old female relative.

At the close of a jury trial in December 2013 for Alford on rape and other charges, state District Judge Judith Nakamura issued directed verdicts of not guilty, ruling there was insufficie­nt evidence to convict Alford.

The female relative initially said she wasn’t molested but later said Alford had raped her once or twice a week, beginning at age 13. The girl said Alford had hit her and threatened to shoot her if she didn’t submit.

In 2014, Alford, saying he should have never been prosecuted, filed lawsuits in state District Court against the girl, other family members, the state District Attorney’s Office, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department and others. Two of the cases were dismissed before trial; a third is pending.

Venie said in a court document that while discussing one of those lawsuits with Alford, the client said he had been abusing girls for nearly 50 years. Venie said Alford had previously maintained his innocence.

Venie said he told Alford after his admission that he needed to hire a new attorney for the lawsuits.

“When Mr. Venie refused to participat­e in the fraud, this action followed,” Venie wrote of the court petition filed by the Alfords over Venie’s legal fees.

The petition alleges that Venie has received services, cash and others assets from the Alfords greatly in excess of what was owed for his representa­tion of Alford in the criminal cases. The Alfords have amended the petition to include charges of extortion, fraud and more.

Venie has responded that the Alfords are trying to get out of paying all the money he’s due. “It’s a sad, pathetic sham of a case,” the attorney wrote in a court filing.

 ??  ?? ALFORD: His ex-lawyer says he admitted the crimes
ALFORD: His ex-lawyer says he admitted the crimes
 ??  ?? VENIE: In legal battle with former client
VENIE: In legal battle with former client

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