Defense attorney forged amended protective order to keep cops from arresting her client, and a simple mistake was her undoing: AG

Josephine C. Townsend

Josephine C. Townsend (jctownsend.com).

A Washington state attorney is facing criminal charges after she allegedly forged a legal document to keep her client out of jail.

Josephine C. Townsend is charged with two counts of forgery and could be sentenced to 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine, the Washington Attorney General’s Office said in a press release. The AG’s office laid out its case against the 64-year-old Townsend in a 27-page probable cause arrest affidavit. It revolves around one of Townsend’s clients, a man named Travon Santiago, who was arrested in December 2023 by the Vancouver Police Department for an alleged assault. Among the conditions for Santiago’s release was for him to stay more than 1,000 feet from the victim’s home.

More coverage from Law&Crime: ‘Horrible accident’: Lawyer allegedly says he killed and ‘cremated’ his own son after mistaking him for intruder

In addition to the criminal case, the victim’s girlfriend filed for and received in January a civil protection order that ordered Santiago to stay more than 5,000 feet from their home. But Santiago lives about 1,065 feet from the victim’s home, meaning he would be unable to stay at his residence without violating the order after he posted bail on April 2.

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