Crime

Serial Spitter Splatters Another Lawyer

He was ordered to wear a "spit shield." What did you think would happen?

By  
on

iStock_000028033600_SmallA drug felon, who has spit on his lawyers before, spit on another one of his lawyers. You might not think that’s so crazy, except here’s the thing: the convict, Tyson A. Poulos, was already required to wear a “spit shield” in court because of his past behavior. This guy was such a pernicious spitter the court required him to wear gear. After his first spit, take he told his previous lawyer than he had hepatitis, which is such a Tyler Durden move.

Poulos faces up to 36 years in state prison on the heroin- and cocaine-related drug charges, and is already serving a 5- to 10-year prison term for prison vandalism and bodily fluid-tossing while in jail awaiting trial.

So if everyone’s on guard about this guy and his commitment to finding creative uses for bodily fluids, how did he spit on this new lawyer? Because they momentarily removed the shield and he took advantage of the opportunity.

This is why you don't take these off.

This is why you don’t take these off.

By the way, what, exactly, are the rules on forcing defendants to wear muzzles? It strikes me that this is a pretty aggressive invasion of personal liberty ,and if relegating a defendant to an orange jumpsuit can be unduly prejudicial, placing them in a spit guard must be even worse.

But the real sympathetic figure in this tale is poor Garfield Raymond. Raymond, the attorney on the business end of that loogie, hasn’t had the best working relationship with his clients:

Raymond has had a rough go with troublesome clients in recent years, as he was punched and knocked out in April 2014 in Washington County Jail when meeting with an inmate in a parole violation case.

Sponsored

Raymond has filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office and been removed as Poulos’s lawyer.

As Poulous faces most of the rest of his adult life in prison, he should understand that “spitting in the eye of the system” usually means the prosecutor… not the lawyer there to defend you. It’s an honest mistake.

Convict spits in face of another lawyer after trial verdict [The Post Star]

Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

Sponsored

Topics

, , ,