Lawyer Arrested... Mid Trial

Practice pointer: do not appear as a client's defense attorney at trial when there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest.

I’m not one of those people who think that lawyers are somehow smarter than the general population. There is nothing inherent in passing the bar that makes one better or more clever. However, going to law school should provide one with sufficient knowledge of the criminal justice system to not make stupid mistakes. For example, do not appear as a client’s defense attorney at trial when there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest.

This may seem like a pretty basic proposition, but for California attorney Deron Kartoon, it bears repeating. Well, calling Kartoon an attorney might be a bit of an overstatement — according to the state bar of California, he is currently inactive and ineligible to practice. In fact, Kartoon has been put on inactive status numerous times since 1999 for failure to pay bar dues.

But according to the San Francisco Chronicle, that wasn’t the full extent of Kartoon’s troubles:

Authorities also learned that Kartoon had a bench warrant for his arrest in San Mateo County, stemming from his failure to appear in court May 11 on misdemeanor charges of commercial burglary, fraudulent use of a credit card, attempted grand theft and possession of a methamphetamine pipe.

That case stemmed from his arrest last year when he tried to get a cash advance with a fraudulent card at the Lucky Chances casino in Colma, and more fraudulent cards were found in his possession, prosecutors said.

Kartoon’s failure to appear came a week after he and his girlfriend, Lindsey Kaila Tredway, 31, were arrested by Ross police in a forgery and identity theft investigation, authorities said.

Charges against Kartoon are also pending in Marin County for a series of 2013 arrests, in which authorities said they found methamphetamine in his home and during a traffic stop for speeding. He is also facing charges of using a stolen credit card at a Chevron gas station in Greenbrae.

Kartoon was in a Redwood City courthouse where his client was being tried for fraudulently buying more than 150 iPads this week when things went pear-shaped. And by that I mean he and his client both wound up in jail that night. Ever the optimist, Kartoon still has high hopes for his career once his legal troubles are resolved.

Kartoon said future clients shouldn’t shy away from him. “No, absolutely I think I’m competent, and when I get my head screwed on, I don’t think there’s another attorney that can outwork me,” he said. “There’s going to be smarter lawyers out there, but no one’s going to work harder than I will.”

And at least you know he has intimate knowledge of the criminal justice system.

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Trial comes to a halt when defense attorney is arrested [San Francisco Chronicle]

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