Thomas Hollingsworth has resigned from his job as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office after he pulled a “prank” that led to the Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspending his license.
The Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 14 that an email Hollingsworth sent from another attorney’s laptop violated rules of professional conduct and suspended his license. He may apply for his license to be reinstated after six months, according to court documents.
Court records also show he was fined $1,000.
Hollingsworth, 53, had worked for the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office since 2007. He resigned on Monday, Prosecuting Attorney Trisha Stefanski said.
Stefanski said Hollingsworth was being paid $77,807.31 a year.
Hollingsworth did not return phone calls for comment.
Stefanski said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office now has 14 assistant prosecuting attorneys, adding that she will seek to fill Hollingsworth’s position.
“Our office will be fine,” she said. “We have an amazing group of attorneys that always step up when they are needed.”
The incident that led to Hollingsworth’s license being suspended occurred June 9, 2023, when he sent an inappropriate email from a public defender’s laptop to Sheriff Dave Marshak without the other lawyer’s knowledge or permission, court records said.
The email said, “You look sooooo good in Khaki pants and that black shirt.” It was signed “Warm Regards” followed by the public defender’s first and last name, court documents show.
Stefanski said when she learned about the email, she suspended Hollingsworth for two days without pay and placed him on six months’ probation.
On June 28, 2023, Hollingsworth received a written reprimand and a six-month Mandatory Performance Improvement Plan, court records said.
Stefanski also ordered Hollingsworth to write letters to the public defender and Marshak to apologize for his actions, according to court records.
In a handwritten letter dated July 13, 2023, Hollingsworth wrote to Marshak, “I apologize for sending you that inappropriate email from someone else’s email address. It was a juvenile, towel-snapping thing to do and I should have known better. I regret any embarrassment it caused you.”
In another handwritten July 13, 2023, letter, Hollingsworth wrote to the public defender, “I apologize for using your email. It was a stupid, juvenile thing to do, ill-befitting a member of the bar. I deeply regret any embarassment (sic) it caused you and I hope to, in time, earn back the trust I have lost.”
During a hearing in front of a disciplinary panel, Hollingsworth asked the public defender if he accepted his apology. The public defender said, “I do, yes,” court records show.
According to court documents, Hollingsworth used the public defender’s laptop when it was left unattended in the Jefferson County Div. 1 Courtroom’s jury room. When the jury room is not in use, lawyers often use it to complete paperwork, fill out court forms and negotiations.
The public defender said Hollingsworth previously commented that if the lawyer left his laptop unlocked and unattended, someone could use it. The public defender said he always took Hollingsworth’s comments as “jokes,” court records said.
Hollingsworth said he had thought about sending an email to the sheriff from another lawyer’s computer months before he did so on June 9, 2023, according to court documents.
When Hollingsworth sent the email, two other lawyers were in the jury room, and Hollingsworth said part of the reason he sent the email was to impress the other two lawyers, according to court records.
Hollingsworth said after sending the email, he felt “full of Schadenfreude. It’s a German word. It means shameful joy.” When asked how the other two lawyers reacted to the email, which Hollingsworth dictated to them, he said, “Gleefully. More shameful joy,” court documents said.
One of the lawyers Hollingsworth read the letter to asked if he should tell Marshak about the email, and Hollingsworth told the lawyer to reach out to Marshak “right away.” Then, the other lawyer explained the email to Marshak in a text message, according to court documents.
When the public defender returned to the jury room, another lawyer told him to check his email. The public defender said he was shocked and angry when he saw the email that had been sent to Marshak, court records said.
The public defender said he then sent an email to Marshak explaining that someone else had sent the email. Marshak replied, “no worries,” according to court documents.
The public defender said confidential client information was on the laptop, which Hollingsworth could have accessed. However, there was no evidence that Hollingsworth looked at that information, court records said.
However, due to the possibility that Hollingworth could have seen the confidential client information, Stefanski allowed defendants being prosecuted by Hollingsworth to request he be disqualified from the case, and Hollingsworth was not allowed to contest the requests, court documents show.
According to court records, 19 people requested Hollingsworth be disqualified from their cases, and those cases were assigned to other assistant prosecuting attorneys, who, Stefanski said, already had “excessive” caseloads, according to court records.
The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel argued during the state Supreme Court hearing that those 19 reassignments to other prosecutors delayed justice for the defendants.
There were approximately 80 to 100 cases that Hollingsworth could have been disqualified from, and Hollingsworth told the court that the requests for reassignments were strategic moves to remove him from those cases, court records show.
Three lawyers said Hollingsworth had a history of making inappropriate jokes and comments containing sexual innuendo during working hours. Hollingsworth admitted to making jokes and described himself as a “mischief maker,” court documents said.
During a disciplinary hearing about the email he sent from the public defender’s laptop, Hollingsworth said, “I sent what I thought was a harmless, flirtatious email to an elected official under the name of my friend, and it was funny.”
The disciplinary panel ruled on June 10, 2024, that because of that email, Hollingsworth was guilty of conduct involving “deceit and misrepresentation.” However, the panel said Hollingsworth did not access confidential files and was not guilty of sexual harassment, adding that the email was a joke, court records show.
“Respondent did not intend to embarrass (the public defender), and no client rights were violated by sending the email,” the panel wrote.
The panel recommended issuing Hollingsworth a reprimand for his actions based on the findings and due to him having no disciplinary history. However, the panel’s recommendation was rejected by the chief disciplinary counsel on July 9, 2024, and that resulted in the case being sent to the Missouri Supreme Court, according to court documents.