Coke in the Courthouse Costs Counsel 90 Days

When you're cokehead CDL defending a high profile accused murderer and the police investigator and lab technician are hanging out where you're hanging (the lawyer's lounge, for instance) you might want to consider not sniffing cocaine at the conference table during recesses in the court proceedings.

The Legal Profession blawg reports, this morning, on the a Twin-Cities based lawyer's Charles Ramsey's (pic) earned a 90-day suspension for Cocaine possession following his arrest in January 2009. 

Ramsey was defending a murder suspect in a high profile cold case prosecution when the police investigator and lab tech noticed cocaine residue and Ramsey wandering around sniffing like he might have been tooting.  Upon this suspicion other police took the CDL into custody and a search turned up 5 grams of cocaine.  The criminal trial came to a screeching halt, Ramsey went to jail, and has according to the disciplinary case, successfully entered recovery for his cocaine addiction. 

The client, accused murderer, Jack Nissalke, was convicted following a retrial 6 months later, now represented by different counsel.

Al Garcia, Esq.--Coked-Out Rapist-Part 2

I reported on the arrest and prosecution of lawer Al Garcia, former Minneapolis City Hall mover and shaker and I offered the observation that at his rape trial the victim testified to Garcia's matter-of-fact manner.  Garcia's blatant behavior as he pulled out cocaine ingested it like a pig in a trough then raped his prospective client, suggested to me that this hardly his first victim.  After reading the former client's testimony you could easily infer that Garcia was a serial sex offender.  These kind of guys, don't start out with dope and rape--no, there have been years of pulling this lesser sorts of stunts. 

In Garcia's case he was probably fully at it in college.  Since then who knows, my educated guess there are many victims since then--most of whom won't publically number themselves as his victims.  Garcia possessed power and coercion along with a now permanently void law license. 

Sure enought today 3 further Garcia victims testified at the trial according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  The evidentiary part of the trial concluded today and the jury returns next week for instruction and deliberations.

That Candy Is Almost as Addictive as Crack Cocaine

The one of the two gentlemen in the picture spent 5 DAYS IN JAIL because coconut candy found in their work van by an idiot cop was mistakenly believed to be crack cocaine according to an amazing account in the New York Daily News:

"Cops accused Cesar Rodriguez and Jose Pena of having crack cocaine in their work van, but it was only coconut candy, they said Friday.  Charges were dropped after tests showed they were telling the truth, but the two men plan to file a $2 million suit against the NYPD.'I spent five days in jail for possession of coconut candy,' said Rodriguez, 33, an ex-con who works as a plumber's assistant.  He and Pena were parked near an Arthur Ave. bodega Jan. 15 when two police officers asked to search their green Chevy Venture van, the men said.  The cops found pieces of the crystalline candy - known as crema de coco and sold in bodegas across the city - in a plastic baggie.  Officer Anthony Burgos of the 48th Precinct arrested the duo for drug possession despite their insistence they were guilty only of a sweet tooth, Rodriguez said.'I kept telling him it is candy,' he said.  Rodriguez and Pena were locked up on a Friday night and didn't see a judge for arraignment until that Sunday, said their lawyer, Neil Wollerstein." 
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Being an ex-con meant Rodriguez was not able to obtain an affordable bond and he spent 5 days in jail, while Pena spent 3 days, incacerated.

 Nice police work, there.

My Lawyer, the Drug Dealer

http://crimesceneinvestigations.blogspot.com/2009/11/baker-released-from-jail-enters-rehab.html

Berryville, Mo. lawyer Cindy Baker made a, um, slight error in judgment when she sold crystal-meth to a "client" who happened to be a snitch.   As you can see from the pics, things weren't going all that well for attorney Baker as it was.  Things are going less well for her now although she was released on bond to enter rehab.

How often do you think it happens that your sharp, smart, professional lawyer finds themselves making more dough from the illegal drug business than they do from practicing law.  My guess it's less rare than you might imagine.  As a lawyer throughout the 1980s and the 1990s I worked with many drug addicted and abusing lawyers who if they survived the era--are still nursing the aftereffects of perforated septums and other physical and mental ailments attributable to drug use and abuse.   I shared an office with a bright, skilled, committed lawyer, Nancy O., long dead,  who rad a cocaine distributorship.  You would not have guessed it from knowing her casually or professionally.  Although as Nancy O. entered her thirties it seemed to those of us who knew her "issues" that she had developed a pretty striking case of pancreatitis.

One afternoon in the early years of my friendship with her, Nancy and I were going to go out after work for a drink; but, there were "errands"to run.  To my astonishment, we went from one building lobby to the next as she collected envelopes and delivered envelopes. At her apartment, later, I saw a desk in the dining room specially equipped with a scale and what I learned was the paraphernalia of her primary earning activity. As much as I loved Nancy, our friendship did not survive my decision to "get sober," and my expressed hope that she could give it a shot--ended our friendly relations.

For me Nancy O. represented the could-have-been.  She was a natural advocate, with a solid sense of what was possible and probable in terms of setting and meeting client expectations.  Clients loved her.  She was the feminist lawyer who taught me that secretaries are not "girls."  Nancy cared about progressive causes, and right and wrong--except where narcotics were concerned.  Her drug use, her alcoholism, and the impairment of her judgment meant that her career was limited to doing pretty bottom shelf work--with her advocacy skill set her professional potential was so much more.

There were so many more and worse lost to drugs and alcohol.  I've talked, here, about my dear friend Carter who died of a heroin overdose.  In one of the offices there was this tremendously "successful" personal injury lawyer who would lose days to sitting around his office coked out with his glassy-eyed buddies from the ghetto.  When you think about the investment in time, preparation, tuition, the bar exam, the learning curve to lose it over being high....it's ghastly.

Look at the face of Cindy Baker.