photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Deputy DA Joshua Seiden dressed as a public commenter in the lobby of Lawrence's courthouse.

Updated at 3:25 p.m. Tuesday, June 25

A photograph and video of the former Douglas County deputy district attorney imitating a man who was once prosecuted by the DA’s office were released Tuesday pursuant to a Kansas Open Records request. The video also shows District Attorney Suzanne Valdez laughing while watching the scene.

The Journal-World has reached out to the DA’s office for comment on the matter, but the office has not responded.

The images were captured Friday at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center lobby and depict Joshua Seiden, the now former deputy DA, donning a wig and sunglasses and imitating a man who has gained notoriety for his profane and sometimes disruptive commentary at public meetings and his run-ins with law enforcement. The man, Justin Spiehs, was charged by the DA’s office with two felony counts of aggravated assault and one count of interference with a law enforcement officer; in 2022 he entered a plea agreement and was instead convicted of two misdemeanors, endangerment and endangerment of a child.

The photo was taken by a deputy, and the video is footage from security cameras in the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. The video footage, which has no sound, shows Valdez emerging from her office with a beverage and smiling as she watches Seiden in costume walk around the courthouse entrance where the building’s metal detectors are. Valdez points and laughs at Seiden before the two head back into her office.

As the Journal-World reported, Seiden, Valdez’s right-hand man and campaign treasurer, abruptly departed the DA’s office in recent days, just weeks before the Democratic primary election.

The Journal-World learned that sheriff’s deputies reported seeing Seiden Friday morning at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center imitating Spiehs. Spiehs was most recently arrested in May at a Douglas County Commission meeting for allegedly “interfering with the conduct of public business” after holding an obscene sign insulting a commissioner and arguing with the commission chair. Valdez declined to file charges in that incident. At a recent candidate forum, she referred to Spiehs, who has filed several lawsuits against the City of Lawrence and other government entities. Spiehs was at the forum carrying signs that said “Democrats are racists” and “Nazis work here.” Valdez told the audience that she works to protect the rights of people like Spiehs who regularly express their First Amendment rights. Spiehs could be heard booing Valdez after each question she answered at the forum.

photo by: Douglas County DA’s Facebook page

Douglas County Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden and District Attorney Suzanne Valdez are pictured together in downtown Lawrence in a Facebook post Valdez’s office published about an evening together in May 2023.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Justin Spiehs attends the Douglas County District Attorney candidate forum on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the Lawrence Public Library.

According to the sheriff’s office, a deputy photographed Seiden in the act of imitating Spiehs so that “the deputy could notify his supervisors about what was happening.” Sheriff Jay Armbrister then took “immediate steps to contact the District Attorney to make sure she was aware of the situation. As an elected official, the District Attorney’s personnel decisions about her agency rest solely with her,” Armbrister’s office said in an email to the Journal-World.

Valdez’s office has not commented on the reason for Seiden’s departure, except to say that “Joshua Seiden has been an integral part of our office since District Attorney Valdez took office, and his contributions have been significant. We wish him the very best as he seeks new opportunities.”

According to rules governing attorney conduct in Kansas, “An attorney is required to act at all times, both professionally and personally, in conformity with the standards established by the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct, the Rules Relating to Discipline of Attorneys, and the attorney’s oath of office.”

In April, a panel for the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys recommended that Valdez be censured for her conduct toward a Douglas County judge, which the panel described as “undignified or discourteous conduct.” The panel found that Valdez did so knowingly and that her misconduct “caused actual injury to the legal system, the legal profession and the public.” That disciplinary matter is pending at the Kansas Supreme Court, which is responsible for making final judgments about the conduct of attorneys in the state.

At the end of May, in response to a question from the Journal-World, Cheryl Cadue, the spokesperson for Valdez’s office, indicated that the county had spent $26,730 on Valdez’s defense in the disciplinary case. The Office of the Disciplinary Administrator as part of its final order in the case also assessed costs against Valdez, but that figure has not been made available to the Journal-World.

Seiden and Valdez are also currently under investigation by the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator for allegations that they violated the rights of a juvenile victim of a sex crime, as the Journal-World has reported.

Seiden’s departure came amid evidently ongoing turmoil in the DA’s office, as the Journal-World reported Monday. Multiple sources told the Journal-World that Seiden played an outsized role in the office, regularly behaving as the de facto district attorney.

The Journal-World asked Valdez’s office several specific questions about office roles, dynamics and relationships. Cadue, the spokesperson for the office, did not respond to any of the questions specifically, but issued a general statement via email denouncing the Journal-World for asking about the issues.

“It is dangerous and even slanderous to throw these types of allegations around,” Cadue said via email. “This represents a new low of depravity, even for the Lawrence Journal-World.”

On Tuesday, the Journal-World reached out to Valdez’s office about what role, if any, Seiden’s behavior in imitating Spiehs had played in his departure and also about her own behavior depicted in the video. Her office has not responded.

The day prior, the Journal-World asked Seiden in person about the existence of the photo of him dressed as Spiehs, and he declined to comment. The newspaper also reached out to him on Tuesday after the images were released, but he did not immediately respond.

Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald has now assumed the title of deputy district attorney in Valdez’s office. Greenwald is running as a Republican for the district attorney’s seat in Johnson County.

photo by: Security camera video screen capture

Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez is seen at left pointing and laughing as her deputy DA, Joshua Seiden, imitates a man her office had prosecuted, in this screen capture from security camera video Friday, June 21, 2024, at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Deputy DA Joshua Seiden dressed as a public commenter in the lobby of Lawrence’s courthouse.

— Public safety reporter Chris Conde contributed to this report.