IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A supervisor in the Iowa public defender’s office has resigned from his longtime side job as a police officer after critics said it created a conflict of interest.
Mike Adams, the supervisor of the special defense unit, resigned last month from the Colfax Police Department, where he worked as a reserve officer. His resignation letter was released Friday under the open records law.
It comes after reports about concerns of Adams’ work as an officer in a jurisdiction where his office represents low-income criminal defendants.
His dual roles became a problem when Adams’ subordinates were defending a man charged in a beating death in Colfax. Adams arrested a potential witness in the murder case in August. Lawyers who report to Adams then withdrew from the case in September.
