People v. Kristin Lee Knotts. 17PDJ025. May 18, 2017. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ conditional admission of misconduct and publicly censured Kristin Lee Knotts (attorney registration number 35918), effective May 18, 2017. Her public censure is subject to twelve months of monitored sobriety and relapse prevention group therapy. any failure to comply with these conditions constitutes grounds for additional discipline.
In December 2014, Knotts, who was on her way to Colorado, was pulled over in Nebraska for driving erratically. Knotts took a portable breath test, which recorded a blood alcohol count was .392. Subsequent tests were inconclusive. Knotts underwent a substance abuse evaluation in Colorado in summer 2015, where it was determined that she exhibited signs of substance use disorder. Thereafter, Knotts failed to appear for two court dates in her Nebraska case, but she was unemployed at the time and had difficulty returning to Nebraska. Knotts eventually pleaded guilty to a DUI, serving ninety days in jail.
The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel asked Knotts to undergo an independent medical evaluation and tried on several occasions to schedule the examination, but Knotts failed to comply. She also did not reply to disciplinary counsel’s report of investigation.
Knotts violated Colo. RPC 8.1(b) (a lawyer shall not knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority); and Colo. 8.4(b) (a lawyer shall not commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects).