The Missouri Supreme Court has indefinitely suspended Jefferson County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Hollingsworth's license. Accompanying the suspension, ordered last Tuesday, was a fine of $1,000, this action followed an incident where Hollingsworth sent a prank email from a fellow lawyer's computer, as reported by KSDK.
Detailing the events of June 9, 2023, First Alert 4 describes how during court breaks attorneys often use the jury room to work, Hollingsworth took advantage of this by using assistant public defender Charles Argana's unattended and unsecured laptop to craft a frivolous email to Sheriff Dave Marshak complimenting his attire, which he sent out under Argana's signed name.
The prank email, which read "David, You look soooo good in Khaki pants and that black shirt,” seemed to be harmless fun to Hollingsworth but raised serious concerns given the laptop's content of client files and other confidential materials. In a statement obtained by First Alert 4, Hollingsworth asserted, “At no time did I snoop or inspect the computer further, I did not penetrate any of the public defender’s databases, nor did I delete any information contained within. I sent what I thought was a harmless, flirtations email to an elected official under the name of my friend Charlie Argana and it was funny.”
Despite Hollingsworth's claims that his actions were without malice, the Missouri State Public Defenders Office saw it differently they requested that 20 of his cases be reassigned citing potential confidentiality breaches, Hollingsworth was also suspended by his office for two days without pay as a result of the incident.
