DENVER -- A Pueblo attorney who represents mental health patients is under investigation by the state after a CALL7 investigation questioned whether she properly represented a patient.

“Your story generated a lot of interest and a lot of concern,” said John Gleason, chief of the Colorado Supreme Court Regulation Counsel.

Corinne Martinez-Casias is the primary attorney for patients of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo who are fighting forced medication by the hospital. Court records and interviews indicate she may have never met with her client, Josh Garcia, before stipulating Garcia agreed to take the medication.

Garcia died in 2007 from a complication of the forced medication, an autopsy says.

The counsel's office, which investigates ethical complaints against attorneys, opened a complaint this week after the CALL7 Investigation.

“Anytime a lawyer is representing a client, they have duties under the rules of professional conduct to communicate with their client, to be honest in their representations to the court,” Gleason said. “Our goal is to protect the public by enforcing the rules of professional conduct.”

Gleason said this case is particularly important because Martinez-Casias is representing people who are often too mentally ill to speak for themselves.

“Anyone that is in vulnerable situations is of course of more concern to us,” he said.

Martinez-Casias, who the state paid more than $108,000 last year to represent the patients, declined repeated requests for an interview on Garcia's case.