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Lawyer accused of handing in check contaminated with fecal matter

Posted at 3:29 PM, May 14, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-14 15:29:16-04

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Bar Association is filing a complaint against attorney Mark Bailey over a contaminated check, according to KFOR.

Bailey was charged in 2017 for assault and battery after he was accused of hitting a woman with his truck.

It's another part of the complaint that's raising questions.

"As an attorney or lawyer, anytime the O.B.A. files a formal complaint against you for something you did as an attorney or outside your role as an attorney, it's never a good thing," said legal expert and defense attorney Ed Blau.

According to the complaint, Bailey was bringing a refund check to O.B.A. for a previous client.

When Bailey took the check to O.B.A., he insisted it was given directly to a General Counsel staff member, the complaint said.

When the check was delivered, the complaint said the check had a "pinched indentation and there was a brown, damp smear across its front."

“The specific facts of this complaint are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Blau said.

Related: Courthouse closes early due to bed bugs falling from lawyer's clothing

The complaint said test results confirmed the substance on the check was fecal matter.

“This would be similar to somebody going to the police station and doing this to a police officer. I mean, it’s not something that’s ever done," Blau said.

Bailey was instructed to bring a new check by the end of the day.

The complaint said Bailey and his paralegal went to the office of the General Counsel. It said "Bailey denied there was anything nefarious about the check."

His paralegal said "the checkbook had fallen between Bailey's car seats and that the brown substance was already smeared on the check at the time she filled it in for Bailey's signature."

When they turned in the new check, the complaint said "Bailey asked if he could have the original refund check back to keep it from being accidentally cashed or lost."

His request was denied.

Both Bailey and the O.B.A. declined to comment.

Blau tells KFOR that the Oklahoma Supreme Court will ultimately decide if what Bailey's accused of warrants professional discipline.