Ah, here we go Louisiana Cop pepper sprays a 61 year old woman after stopping her car for windows tinted too darkly, see http://www.wwl.com/Officer-fired-after-pepper-spraying-61-year-old/5190774. Pepper spray is pretty nasty stuff. A few years ago I was exiting Your Hometown Court house where the high-sheriff had fully-engaged in all the post 9/11 theatrics of security. The Sheriff's niece, or maybe it was the Sheriff's niece's niece--they were all related to him some how--spotted me explaining something to a client and lingering a little too long to her terror-alert-tastes and loudly ordered my person, and the person of my client to leave the courthouse. Did she ask nicely? No. Did she indicate that some rule: like lawyers can only talk to clients for limited minutes out in the open of the court house or something like that, um, no.
Being the Bad Lawyer that I am and somewhat sensitive to the ideal that the people own the court house and that even the Sheriff's niece's niece--work for the people I decided to ask why security-like theatrics demanded the post-haste abbreviation of a lawyer's sacred confab with a client in of all places, the friggin' court house. I approached this lovely young woman and one of the other deputeeees pressed a panic button and before I could say boo I was sprawled across a security table with 5 Sheriff deputeees on my ass screaming "cooperate, comply!" As I have said elsewhere in this here, apologia for breathing--I'm not a criminal defense attorney if I had been perhaps I would have recognized the code words for--law enforcement about to go evil on my ass. I was told to put my hands behind my back, which I promptly did--and one of my hands was cuffed. My body was being shoved side to side and down on this security table while deputees were flying in from every direction. I was wearing a suit, a rain coat and at least initially a men's hat. The hat went sailing, my briefcase was taken--then one of the deputees snatched my glasses from my face and emptied half a can of pepper spray directly into my eyes.
These front line heroes of America's war on terrorist lawyers dragged me into elevators that service the jails and proceeded to beat the holy shit out of my ribs. Because two of America's finest bruised their knuckles on me I was charged with two counts of felonious assault and jailed.
This expensive and painful ordeal cost me $30,000. in attorney fees, the better part of two days in jail and the first real threat to my license. More about Pepper Spray, law enforcement, and what happens to persons who aren't lawyers who find themselves in cuffs with Pepper Spray in the face when I continue.
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