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Lawyer of the Day: Philly ADA Gets The Yeyo

philly urban night.JPGPhiladelphia Assistant District Attorney Adam Yanoff just started his job as prosecutor in August. But maybe he should have been a public defender.

Yanoff was busted over the holiday weekend carrying 1.3 grams of crack cocaine and about $20 worth of weed:

The cop observed Yanoff empty the cocaine from a small bag onto a magazine, and then use a straw to snort the substance.

Field research?

In any event, we can likely add another lawyer to the list of those recently out of a job:

Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham, said Yanoff has been suspended without pay. His case will be handled by the state attorney general.

Cocaine’s a hell of a drug.

Assistant D.A. jailed on drug charges [Philadelphia Daily News]

Comments

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1 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:28 AM

once

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2 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:28 AM

once

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3 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:29 AM

hilarious!

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4 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:29 AM

You can snort crack?

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5 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:29 AM

Third?? Opera is cool

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6 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:30 AM

Elie so was it crack cocaine as you say or regular cocaine? It's a pretty big difference

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7 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:32 AM

Blow at 4 in the afternoon?

Government employees act like such peasants....

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8 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:34 AM

I wish I had some blow right now. I am so F'in tired. This sucks. Not even punching the office midget woke me up.

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9 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:36 AM

It's crack cocaine. Read the article.

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10 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:41 AM

Why the hell did he *snort* crack? Someone's facts aren't right. You snort coke; you *smoke* crack. Not that I would know, personally. A friend of mine told me.

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11 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:44 AM

I take my crack in suppository form in my crack. I learned this from SkaddenDC Bob.

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12 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:45 AM

To think that I interviewed for that position and didn't get an offer and this guy did is really demoralizing.

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13 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:51 AM

this story makes no sense. You definitely cannot snort crack cocaine. are you exaggerating or are the cops lying?

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14 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:55 AM

I have plenty of crack for you to snort.

The Ass of the Cravath

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15 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:56 AM

I think it's just simple misuse of the word. People confuse the two constantly and so we have seen worse errors on this site alone....

Sucks for him, but he deserves it...even guys on the exchange floors are more discreet.

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16 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:56 AM

He must have been a Penn Law kid.

The rest of Philadelphia law students are too poor for coke, especially if they're working in the DA's office.

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17 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:58 AM

He snorted cocaine ("white powdery substance") as the cops approached. The story can be internally consistent if he snorted all of the coke before being searched, but still had the crack and weed on him.

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18 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:58 AM

Skadden snorts coke.

Half-Skadden snorts crack.

Boni Bonum Bonus.

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19 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 11:59 AM

16 - He went to UMD-Baltimore or some crap. At Penn Law they just do it in the library.

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20 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:01 PM

Negative 16.

It would appear he went to UM Law from a little perusal of Facebook.

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21 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:08 PM

Elie, you of all people should know that crack cocaine is not something you snort.

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22 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:12 PM

Slanging yeyo, to get that mayo. I hope I don't go back to slangin yeyo.

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23 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:12 PM

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

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24 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:14 PM

Yanoff Smirnoff say in Soviet Union the crack snorts you!

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25 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:16 PM

Come on Mystal, use some of you investigatory skills and conduct a search on facebook (like #20). You would have had a picture of the douchebag instead of the artsy crap with zero connection to the story you are posting about.

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26 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:17 PM

He was Pippin the camp play in 1989!

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27 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:18 PM

20 here- FYI, the picture is douchetastic!

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28 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:19 PM

Actually, here it is.... http://profile.ak.facebook.com/profile6/457/34/n218000767_8473.jpg

The lesson of course: If you don't want your picture plastered on the web, get the newspaper to withhold your name.

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29 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:20 PM

Check out the crackhead's profile on Friendster:
http://profiles.friendster.com/2982395#moreabout

About Me:

I am 24, live in DC, originally from Philly. and I play
the piano and guitar a lot. I really like to
philosophize, and wax transcendental on life's little
mysteries. I like dissertation. Or maybe discourse--you decide, or ask Josh, aka Merriam Webster. Academia. Music. Debate, Philly, camping, hiking, climbing. That's
all I really need. It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girl dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day. Make sense? I didn't think so. I just started this thing and I am basically computer illiterate, so bear with me. That's a tall order. It may take you a few days....

Who I Want to Meet:

It's fourth and fifteen and you're looking at a full-court press. Anybody and everybody. seriously. contact me. I'll meet you. Ah, how I loved her, but she had her music. At least I think she had her music. She was on the road 300 days a year. In fact I bough her a harp for Christmas. She asked me what it was.....

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30 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:23 PM

Must be a mistake. He has Big Texas written all over him.

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31 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:24 PM

22 - love the e-40 reference

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32 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:25 PM

What the hell else is there to do in Philly?

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33 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:29 PM

Guess he can tell the kids at career day, about the time he got a pink sock...

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34 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:30 PM

ayo for yeyo, all up in my nasal....

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35 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:31 PM

While stupid, this is sad...Would enjoy a transcript of his back and forth with the cop, considering he should be well schooled in 4A law.

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36 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:38 PM

not much of a 4A defense when the cop sees him snorting a "white powdery substance"

this guy is SOL

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37 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:44 PM

Everything is bigger in Texas.

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38 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 12:50 PM

36: No. That allegation in fact puts the truth to the lie. A cop walking down the street could hardly see (1) across the street, (2) thru the car window, (3) onto the magazine, and (4) what was going up a straw, to see that the substance was indeed (a) white, and (b) powdery.

Cops regularly get dinged for putting overly detailed embellishments like this in their reports.

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39 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:03 PM

White people snorting crack... Now I am convinced we are in a recession.

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40 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:06 PM

"Cocaine's a hell of a drug" - great use of the quote.

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41 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:08 PM

"Cocaine's a hell of a drug" - great use of the quote.

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42 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:24 PM

37: except the meat and tubage.

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43 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 1:25 PM

34--

props on the andre nicatina (sp) ref,

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44 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 2:31 PM

38 - i think cop gets past fourth amend. based solely on the fact that he was snorting something off a magazine through a straw. that gets you at least reasonable suspicion to make a stop.

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45 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 2:47 PM

What are the career prospects for a Philly DA (normal market, non-felon) in the private sector? Biglaw Phila?

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46 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 3:19 PM

I second 45's question.

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47 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:20 PM

I actually know this guy. His father is a high-profile Philly attorney. He went to Penn undergrad. Fucked around as a paralegal for a while before going into law--dad undoubtedly got him the gig, which I am sure he's regretting now. Sister is in law school, brother is a rabbi. Lived a very priveleged life but has been an arrogrant, pot-smoking a-hole since high school. Must be true what they say, pot is a "gateway drug"--to being a full-fledged idiot!

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48 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:21 PM

I actually know this guy. His father is a high-profile Philly attorney. He went to Penn undergrad. Fucked around as a paralegal for a while before going into law--dad undoubtedly got him the gig, which I am sure he's regretting now. Sister is in law school, brother is a rabbi. Lived a very priveleged life but has been an arrogrant, pot-smoking a-hole since high school. Must be true what they say, pot is a "gateway drug"--to being a full-fledged idiot!

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49 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:44 PM

I demand definitions for the following terms: PEANUTS, CHEESE, and PRETZELS.

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50 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 5:03 PM

all your freebase are belong to us

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51 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 5:19 PM

btw, no self respecting public defender would ever get caught by a damn foot patrol cop and no real public defender would leave work before 4pm. Elie don't be rude.

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52 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 5:41 PM

47--
I dont know this guy at all, but it seems like you have a bone to pick with him. Its always entertaining when the internet brings out the worst in people. For instance--care to explain how you know he is an arrogant asshole? Or that his father got the job for him? Or do you just want to cast stones? As lawyers we should all know about presuming innocence before guilt, but it seems like you genuinely just want to slam a guy when he is down. care to explain?

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53 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 5:53 PM

This guy was stupid plain and simple. If he was going to be engaging in certain illegal recreational activities, he should have done them from the security of a bathroom stall, his home, or a friend's place. There is no excuse for doing it out in the open. He should be prosecuted for stupidity.

Yet another reason why Philly blows!

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54 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 6:08 PM

All public defenders know to carry their dope inside objects that do not have an immediately incriminating character when felt.

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55 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 7:25 PM

Two words to everyone debating the legality of the stop/search/arrest: plain view.

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56 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 7:42 PM

THIS JUST IN....For all you so-called lawyers and law students who claim to do their due diligence, I just researched the arresting officer. Not only was it his first week on the job, he ended up on the shitty Penn beat after disgracefully leaving his prior job for lying about the very same thing on his police report. How did they find out? His OWN PARTNER threw him under the bus! I wonder why his name wasn't mentioned in the paper? I guess they don't have the sources I do...MORE TO COME....

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57 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 7:58 PM

I've known this guy's family my whole life. Seems kind of odd that he would do this. But hey, you never know.

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58 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:41 PM

i love judging people without evidence. It makes me feel so much better about myself.

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59 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:43 PM

Does anyone know more about this cop? I would love to know his name.

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60 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:50 PM

This whole blog makes me sick to be lawyer. For no other reason than you are all retards. Seriously. Very high functioning mentally retarded individuals. Shame on all of you for having the audacity to let other people see what goes on inside your brains.

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61 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 8:56 PM

60-
I agree. How about I smash your face in with a soddering iron then I can see what goes on inside your brain.

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62 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 10:36 PM

Until his arrest, this guy was doing preliminary hearings in courtroom 406, which hears only drug charges. Unfortunately the reporters left that last delicious piece of irony out of the story.

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63 Posted by guest | Permalink Tuesday, December 2, 2008 10:49 PM

Interesting 62. Wonder if a disgruntled former defendant could have had anything to do with it. This story is strange. I just have a tough time believing that anyone would be so stupid. It seems there could be more than meets the eye here, but we will likely never know. For those of you who seem to know this person, what is he like? Did he seem like the type of character to be this reckless? I doubt the philly DA would be hire someone without drug testing them, right?

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64 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 12:54 AM

Not surprising, many lawyers have a drug problem. If he snoted crack he is an idiot though, that burns like hell.

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65 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 12:54 AM

Not surprising, many lawyers have a drug problem. If he snorted crack he is an idiot though, that burns like hell.

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66 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 12:54 AM

Not surprising, many lawyers have a drug problem. If he snorted crack he is an idiot though, that burns like hell.

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67 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 2:37 AM

Also fails to mention that he took a drug test after and passed it (extremely reliable source).

Maybe the cop was lying again?

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68 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 11:17 AM

I I've also heard from a reliable source that he had passed a drug test. Something is obiviously off in this story and the cops report.

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69 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 11:21 AM

You can belittle the man all you want by slandering him on all sides. He is a good guy who has done nothing to deserve this, other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time with an officer with credibility problems on the beat. It is disgusting to see the personal attacks from people who had no idea who he was until this story came out. I remember there being a saying about being innocent until proven guilty. You all make Fox News look credible. Just know that the same exact thing could happen to you. And, in the end will you be laughing when he sues the city for millions? I'm sure you'd want to be his best friend then.

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70 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 2:59 PM

kids is a putz, went to my HS, his brother is a Rabbi, and wore the cardinal suit at HS football games.. i would do coke now if i had to grow up like that..
adam yanoff class of 97 UDHS.

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71 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:15 PM

I second "comment 69".

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72 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:15 PM

I second "comment 69".

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73 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:32 PM

To comment 70: I dont see how his brother has anything to do with this. You are using a high school football game antic from his brother who is now a clergyman to attack him. On top of that, you are going to attack his family b/c of something from 1997 or prior? I am sure that your family must be perfect then. Get over your high school squabbles. Grow up and take this story out of personal context, and just look at the judicial process. There is a reason we have an independent court system in this country. And it is to keep people with personal vendettas from enacting their hatred and will on people they have differences with. I have the feeling you want him to be guilty and that is absolutely disgusting. You must have serious problems of your own to wish something like this upon another person.

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74 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 3:38 PM

dude.....crack? really? jesus.

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75 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, December 3, 2008 4:12 PM

70: I went to your high school. I know who you are. I'm sorry you were made fun of for being differently abled. I'm so proud of you for being able to use a computer.

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76 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, December 4, 2008 11:37 AM

OK...I HOPE THIS CLEARS SOME THINGS UP. I am friends with Adam. When he got to the precinct he was given a drug test AND PASSED. The cop came up to his car while he was sitting waiting for his friend to come out of his apt. The cop said there have been robberies in the neighborhood, and asked if he could search adams car. The cop found an ANCIENT bag in there. DONT GET ME WRONG - that bag shouldnt have been in there in the first place. BUT there was NO doing lines in the car and NO crack.....this cop has a habit on lying on his reports....looks like he hanst changed much.

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77 Posted by guest | Permalink Saturday, December 13, 2008 1:45 PM

^^My clients tell the exact same story and they end up in jail anyway.

I just wanted to add that I have had several cases with Adam as we both worked in the drug room together in Philly- on opposite sides of course (ironic huh?). He wasn't too much of a jerk, but he was pretty hardnosed about my clients charged with drug offenses. I was very surprised to hear about these charges. Will be interesting to see how the case works out. If he's innocent, hopefully this will be resolved in his favor. If not, I guess he'll have to take the consequences.

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78 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:05 PM

I guess if you have the right connections you can get away with anything

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