Originally published at: Lawyer in trouble for being high cocaine in court and insisting it "enhances his performance" | Boing Boing
…
2 Likes
Strasser was working as a part-time assistant public defender for Erie County and was representing a woman who was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance,
Of course he was.
8 Likes
A lawyer huh?
You know, I kinda sorta see the logic there.
Not that I approve.
4 Likes
It brings a whole new meaning to “high court”.
10 Likes
A lawyer in court while high on cocaine. That’s so 1980s.
13 Likes
Police officers don’t tend to like public defenders, so when they accuse the public defender of a crime, everyone will first suspect they are trying to weaponize the justice system.
That the lawyer didn’t try to contest the easily contestable charge does seem to indicate bad judgement and hubris. Then again, it does indicate honesty too which is supposedly a requirement to be a lawyer.
6 Likes
Tired: A lawyer in court while high on cocaine.
Wired: A lawyer in court while high on AI.
9 Likes
Am I correct in understanding that this whole thing kicked off because a cop accused a public defender of looking kinda cocainized; in his expert medical opinion?
It would appear that the judgement was vindicated in this instance; but that seems like a standard of evidence for starting in an inquiry that is…neither particularly inspiring nor free of perverse incentives.
7 Likes
I hope this isn’t going to be on the bar exam.
In all seriousness, substance abuse is pretty common in the legal profession, unfortunately. Mostly it’s just alcohol, but this story doesn’t surprise me that much. It starts in law school. There was an open bar event during my orientation week for people to get to know each other better. I stayed for maybe 10 minutes, and then left, as did almost everyone else who, like me, was in the part-time weekend program. The K-JD (the term for full time law school students who went straight to law school after college, with no real life work experience) students, on the other hand…yikes. I would love to see that culture change, but I doubt it will anytime soon. And it’s probably worse in Big Law because it’s probably more acceptable than it is for a public defender.
10 Likes
Oh yeah. Law school culture was absolutely soaked in alcohol when I went. Which was admittedly far too long ago.
I still remember overhearing, before class, a few students bragging about how drunk they were when they drove home. A distinct memory of unpacking my books and thinking “what the ever loving fuck?”
If the CLE offerings are any indication, addiction and suicide are still very big issues
7 Likes
Hey at least you guys were invited. My school had a night school orientation event at 3:00 PM.
When virtually all students in the program were still at their day jobs.
5 Likes
We were still forced to take off work two days. Orientation started on Thursday, and was all day Thursday and Friday and was mandatory for all students, full time and part time. That was ok. The rest of my time there everything has been on the weekends for part time students.
3 Likes
“Your honour, I do my best work on cocaine. Coke makes me an amazing lawyer” sounds like the exact kind of legal argument that would make sense when… you know… you’re high on cocaine.
7 Likes
3 Likes
1 Like
2 Likes
2 Likes
4 Likes
Well, he thought it improved his performance, anyway
2 Likes
1 Like
