Court reinstates former prosecutor's law license despite board's objections

The Iowa Supreme Court recently reinstated the law license of former Dickinson County Attorney Amy Zenor over the objections of the court’s own Attorney Disciplinary Board. (Photo by Getty Images)

A former Dickinson County prosecutor convicted of being intoxicated at work has had her license reinstated and is now prosecuting criminal cases in Palo Alto County.

Newly disclosed state records show that the Iowa Supreme Court recently reinstated the law license of former Dickinson County Attorney Amy Zenor over the objections of the court’s own Attorney Disciplinary Board.

In June, the board told the court that evidence showed that “not only was Zenor intoxicated at work, but she also brought alcohol into work with her.” The board argued that while a substance abuse evaluator had concluded Zenor showed no evidence of alcohol dependence, Zenor had denied drinking and didn’t tell the evaluator about bringing alcohol into work.

Zenor’s law license was first suspended in November 2022 after an incident at the Dickinson County Courthouse that resulted in her being charged with, and later convicted of, public intoxication.

State records indicate Zenor was suspected of workplace intoxication as far back as 2018 and that alcohol was also a concern when she worked for Clay County.

In a recent, sworn affidavit, Dickinson County legal secretary Vanessa Potter stated that in early 2018, she attended Zenor’s job interview for the position of assistant county attorney.

Zenor had “just been let go” by the Clay County Attorney’s Office, Potter said, but Zenor “would not disclose much” about the circumstances surrounding her departure except to say that she “had taken a preliminary breath test and the result was zero.” The then-county attorney, Jon Martin, gave Zenor “a strong warning about he didn’t want any problems and she was on a short leash,” Potter stated.

In a separate sworn affidavit, District Judge Carl Petersen told the Attorney Disciplinary Board that at some point in the summer of 2019, he and another judge fielded reports that Zenor was in her courthouse office and was intoxicated or impaired. Zenor was not expected to appear for any court proceedings that day, Petersen said, but he and the other judge met with Zenor to address the issue.

“Ms. Zenor did not admit any impairment but did relate that she was struggling with stress and anxiety caused by several sources,” Petersen stated in his affidavit. “We encouraged her to seek professional help but warned that any future credible allegations of impairment would have to be reported to the Attorney Disciplinary Board.”

In her affidavit, Potter stated that she and three of her colleagues were also noticing signs that Zenor was intoxicated, and said that on one occasion, in September 2019, a staffer took Zenor home believing she may be intoxicated. A month later, Potter stated, two staffers took Zenor to the emergency room of Dickinson County Hospital for unspecified reasons. Zenor “tried to escape,” Potter stated, but was prevented from doing so by a colleague.

In January 2020, Zenor took over the position of county attorney. That same month, Potter stated, she had to drive Zenor home from work. Potter said Zenor had come to work that day with a cup containing some sort of beverage and then left it in Potter’s car. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation later analyzed the contents of the cup and concluded it contained alcohol, Potter stated.

Eventually, Potter said, the staff in the county prosecutor’s office developed a code word, “Peaches,” to alert each other on days when Zenor’s behavior appeared to be erratic or concerning. The office staff also staged interventions, Potter said, but Zenor claimed she did not drink other than the occasional glass of wine with dinner.

“I don’t have specific dates concerning Amy’s behavior,” Potter stated in her affidavit. “There have been many, though. She has continually arrived at the office appearing to be intoxicated … We have had other people in the building approach us about her bizarre behavior … I know some of the police departments will not call her in the night for a search warrant because of her behavior.”

Judge Petersen stated in his affidavit that in the spring of 2022, he received “concerning reports and observations from the Dickinson County clerk’s office.” A staffer in the county attorney’s office had allegedly reported to the clerk that Zenor was impaired, Petersen stated.

“Since Ms. Zenor was not scheduled for court that day, I decided the matter was a ‘county issue’ and did not intend to take any action,” Petersen said. He said that after another judge asked Zenor to appear before her to present a search warrant, he and two other judges intervened, deciding “we could not allow her to appear” in court.

Petersen said he met with Zenor in his chambers and “noticed immediately a different demeanor from Ms. Zenor. She appeared confused and spoke differently. Her eyes were extremely dilated. Ms. Zenor denied any alcohol or drug use. She did, however, explain in detail her health conditions and her use of 20 over-the-counter and prescribed medications on a daily basis.”

Petersen said he reported the matter to the Attorney Disciplinary Board.

In her affidavit, Potter, the legal secretary, said that on Nov. 10, 2022, one of the office workers sent out a “Peaches” alert to his colleagues. Later that same day, she said, the sheriff went into Zenor’s office and met with Zenor privately, after which Zenor was “very angry” and in a “panic state.”

Zenor was then arrested and charged with being intoxicated while at the county courthouse. Four weeks later, the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors accepted Zenor’s resignation.

Court records state that a preliminary breath test showed Zenor’s blood-alcohol level was 0.195 percent, well above the 0.08 limit to operate a motor vehicle. She pleaded guilty to public intoxication, a simple misdemeanor, and was fined $150.

Shortly after her arrest, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended Zenor’s license to practice law due to a disability or incapacity. On April 28, 2023, the court issued a disciplinary license suspension, suspending Zenor’s license to practice law for 30 days.

In her affidavit, Potter said she and her colleagues observed Zenor’s concerning behavior for more than three years, adding that “we tried to keep her behavior hidden from the public.”

Potter concluded her affidavit, which was given six weeks ago, on June 13, by stating, “I do not believe (Zenor) should be able to continue to practice law until she is willing to accept responsibility for her behavior. She is jeopardizing our office and the court system.”

Two weeks after Potter submitted that affidavit, on June 29, the Iowa Supreme Court reinstated Zenor’s law license stating that she was “fully qualified to resume the practice of law.” On July 11, Palo Alto County hired Zenor as an assistant county attorney.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Zenor or Palo Alto County Attorney Peter C. Hart for comment Thursday afternoon.

Court records indicate Zenor has said she’s afflicted with Auto-Brewery Syndrome, an exceptionally rare medical condition that causes a person to become intoxicated without consuming any alcohol.

On the same day Zenor was sentenced in the criminal case, her attorney filed an exhibit with the court that consists of a letter from an Ohio doctor, Anup Kanodia, who reviewed Zenor’s medical condition. Kanodia concluded the former prosecutor might be afflicted with Auto-Brewery Syndrome, or ABS.

People with ABS can become intoxicated when they ingest certain carbohydrates that ferment in their system along with intestinal yeast. According to some studies, fewer than 100 cases of ABS worldwide have been identified since 1952.

In her letter, Kanodia said Zenor was tested for ABS and the results were negative. However, Kanodia wrote, “we still have a high clinical suspicion she does, in fact, have ABS.”

In arguing that Zenor’s law license should not be reinstated, the Attorney Disciplinary Board said in June that when asked whether she is still experiencing intoxication caused by ABS, Zenor had said that since December 2022 she’d experienced “two or three episodes of ABS” caused by stress.

The board said it’s concerned that Zenor’s “disability has not been removed, particularly considering the oftentimes-stressful nature of the legal profession.”

Until recently, Zenor and Dickinson County were defendants in a lawsuit brought by Hilary Henningsen, a former employee of Zenor’s office who alleged she faced harassment and retaliation from Zenor and others at work because of her gender and her status as a pregnant woman.

Henningsen alleged she saw Zenor at work when she was “obviously under the influence of alcohol and to the point of inebriation.” Zenor also is alleged to have made comments about cases “which made no sense” while talking with Henningsen and others in the prosecutors’ office.

The lawsuit also claimed Zenor came into work while appearing “zoned out” and that she “regularly forgot what she had told defense attorneys in criminal cases, and would deny having made plea deals that she had actually made earlier … In addition, Zenor was found passed out in her office a couple of times and one time was found passed out on the bathroom floor.”

The lawsuit was recently dismissed pursuant to a request by Henningsen and her attorneys.

by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch August 3, 2023

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Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times. He has won numerous state and national awards for reporting and editorial writing.