The attorney picked to oversee possible disciplinary proceedings over House Speaker David Ralston’s behavior as a lawyer is a one-time political contributor, as is his wife.
Mark F. Dehler of Hiawassee, the attorney, said that doesn’t mean he won’t be impartial.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Ralston is accused of violating nine State Bar of Georgia rules, including allegations that he misused a state law that allows lawmakers to postpone legal proceedings when legislative business interferes. The law, known as legislative leave, says a member of the General Assembly who is a party to or the attorney in a case “shall be granted a continuance and stay of the case.”
The speaker faces public reprimand or even disbarment if the Georgia Supreme Court ultimately rules against him.
The State Bar asked the state Supreme Court to appoint an investigator, known as a special master, in the case involving Ralston.
The court last week appointed Dehler, a longtime attorney married to Cathy Cox, a former Democratic secretary of state and gubernatorial candidate. Cox is now president of Young Harris College.
Records show Dehler contributed $500 to Ralston’s re-election campaign in 2010, and Cox contributed $250 in 2013.
Cox has been a frequent visitor to the statehouse during legislative sessions, lobbying lawmakers to continue funding more than $20 million a year in grants to private college students. A former South Georgia state lawmker, she was a rising star in the Democratic Party before losing the 2006 gubernatorial primary.
Dehler told the AJC that he looked at his contribution records last week and found that he’d given about $30,000 to political candidates over the past decade. Most of that has gone to Democratic candidates and causes. Ralston is a Republican.
“If I thought I was biased, I wouldn’t have accepted the assignment by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Bryan Cavan, the attorney who helps coordinate and recommend special masters, said he didn’t ask Dehler about political contributions. He said, however, that he asks those he is considering for the unpaid appointments whether they have any biases toward those involved.
“If I found that Mark Dehler was the campaign manager for David Ralston, I wouldn’t appoint him. If I found that Mark Dehler was the campaign manager for his opponent, I wouldn’t appoint him,” Cavan said. “I don’t think $750 is going to buy anything from David Ralston.
“I realize to a number of people that that ($750) is a lot of money,” he added. “In the perspective of people who are politically active, that is not a lot of money.”
Cavan said the attorneys involved in the case could object to Dehler if they thought the contributions were a problem.
One person who isn’t complaining is Debbie Dooley of Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, who worked unsuccessfully last spring to defeat Ralston in the May 20 Republican primary.
“I believe he would be fair and unbiased,” Dooley said of Dehler. “I touched base with friends in the district, and they say he has impeccable integrity.”
Dooley said she is more concerned that the State Bar took so long to move forward on the case.
The State Bar’s investigative panel on Nov. 1 declared there was probable cause to show Ralston violated the rules that all lawyers must follow. The panel forwarded its findings to the State Bar’s lawyers, and last Thursday — more than a month after Ralston won his primary — the official complaint was filed with the Supreme Court, which has the power to punish lawyers.
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