Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Reduced Charge Altercation With Officer Began With Stop For Drunken Driving

A Spokane city attorney charged with slugging a police officer after being arrested for drunken driving pleaded guilty Thursday to a reduced charge.

Milton G. Rowland was initially charged with third-degree assault of a police officer, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

Under a plea bargain with county prosecutors, Rowland, 44, pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.

Accepting the recommendation of prosecutors, District Court Judge Gregory Tripp sentenced Rowland to 240 hours of community service and ordered him to pay a $500 fine.

Rowland also pleaded guilty to drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving.

Tripp said Rowland must continue alcohol treatment and avoid substance abuse problems during the next two years.

Witnesses called police around 1:30 a.m. on May 30 after Rowland was seen driving erratically through the Highland Park subdivision on the southwest edge of the city.

Rowland’s 1990 Oldsmobile lost a tire but kept going over a curb and onto the lawns of several homes.

After leaving his car, Rowland wandered through a back yard before being stopped by Officer Brad Hallock.

Hallock said he was punched by Rowland when he tried to load him into a patrol car.

Hallock, who was not in court for the sentencing, told prosecutors he didn’t mind Rowland pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge.

“But he takes strong exception to the city not firing Mr. Rowland for his actions,” Deputy Prosecutor Ed Hay told the judge.

Hay added later: “Officer Hallock believes if he had done this, he’d have been fired.”

Rowland, who is married with four children, returned to work in late June. He told Tripp he has become an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

“This has been incredibly difficult for my family,” he said. “This has been a turning point in my life.”

But a woman who witnessed the incident criticized the sentence as too lenient.

Danita Buss said she and her three sons were awakened that morning by a screeching car. They ended up watching as the rear wheels of the Oldsmobile became stuck in the lawn of a nearby yard.

“It doesn’t leave a good message that he basically got a tap on his wrist,” Buss said.

Hay defended the sentence as “consistent with what we would have arranged for anyone else with these circumstances.”

The prosecutor said Rowland deserves treatment rather than jail time because he had no prior criminal record, has done community volunteer work and is committed to staying sober.

“We tried to treat him as we would any other citizen with his record, his age and his situation,” Hay said.

Rowland has worked since 1993 as an assistant city attorney. He is also an adjunct law professor at Gonzaga University.

City Attorney Jim Sloane said the sentence will have no effect on Rowland’s career since he’s going through treatment and has shown remorse.

Officials from Gonzaga University and the Washington State Bar Association said earlier they would consider possible sanctions against Rowland after the criminal case was resolved.

, DataTimes