Biglaw

Suspended Biglaw Associate Accused In Molotov Cocktail Attack Sent Back To Jail

Federal prosecutors said he and his alleged accomplice were 'well aware of the severity of their criminal conduct.'

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Last week, furloughed (and later suspended) Biglaw associate Colinford Mattis and housing attorney Urooj Rahman, both charged for their involvement with a Molotov cocktail attack on a police vehicle in Brooklyn, New York, were due to be released on $250,000 bond. On Friday afternoon, that all changed thanks to a decision made by the Second Circuit.

Oral arguments were presented before a panel of Second Circuit judges on Friday morning, and by the end of the business day, both Mattis and Rahman were taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. Here’s more from the New York Law Journal:

U.S. Attorney David Kessler told the panel that Rahman and Mattis must be detained amid ongoing protests in Brooklyn, given that their alleged crime took place early in the morning of May 30 during widespread protests related to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A witness also accused Rahman of offering a Molotov cocktail to people protesting in the area, according to prosecutors, and a completed incendiary device and materials to make more were allegedly found in Mattis’ van.

Rahman and Mattis’ attorneys emphasized that neither had ever been arrested before. Both Mattis, who has been suspended from his job as an associate at Pryor Cashman pending the resolution of the criminal proceeding, and Rahman, a tenants’ attorney in Bronx Housing Court, have stable lives and support from their families and friends, their lawyers said.

Kessler noted in his brief that “[e]ach defendant is a licensed attorney who has attended prestigious universities and law schools. As such, the defendants were well aware of the severity of their criminal conduct when they decided to hurl a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle and to incite others to do the same. They knew their acts endangered the NYPD officers and protesters on the street, as well as their own futures, and the defendants were undeterred.”

An expedited appeal schedule has been set up, with first briefs due to the Second Circuit on June 10.

Lawyers Accused of Throwing Molotov Cocktail in Brooklyn Protests Return to Jail as 2nd Circuit Grants Stay [New York Law Journal]

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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