Ethics
Lawyer’s Pringles poop prank in parking zone of victims advocacy heart results in suspension
An Ohio lawyer was suspended Wednesday for tossing a poop-filled Pringles can into the parking zone of a victims advocacy heart. Picture from Shutterstock.
An Ohio lawyer was suspended Wednesday for tossing a poop-filled Pringles can into the parking zone of a victims advocacy heart.
The Ohio Supreme Court docket suspended lawyer Jack Allen Blakeslee of Caldwell, Ohio, for one yr, with six months stayed on the situation that he interact in no additional misconduct.
Court News Ohio has the small print.
The victims advocacy heart’s government director had attended hearings in a homicide case wherein Blakeslee represented the defendant. She was resulting from attend a pretrial listening to Nov. 30, 2021, the date that she noticed Blakeslee toss the Pringles can outdoors his automobile window into the parking zone of the Haven of Hope victims advocacy heart in Cambridge, Ohio.
Blakeslee pleaded responsible to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and littering for the offense and paid fines and courtroom prices of $248. Within the ethics case in opposition to him, Blakeslee stipulated that he had engaged in conduct adversely reflecting on a lawyer’s health to observe legislation.
Blakeslee had sought a public reprimand. Either side acknowledged that there have been few comparable instances. One of many instances cited concerned a lawyer caught driving while naked. One other concerned a lawyer who wrote a client refund check, routed by means of the Oklahoma Bar Affiliation throughout a disciplinary investigation, that was dirty with feces.
Blakeslee testified in his disciplinary listening to that he had engaged in related misconduct on a minimum of 10 different events, and that he randomly selected the areas. He particularly denied realizing that he had tossed the can into the parking zone of Haven of Hope.
He mentioned his conduct was a “prank” and was “silly.”
The Ohio Supreme Court docket didn’t suppose that the parking zone incident was random.
“Though Blakeslee testified that he randomly chosen all of the areas wherein he deposited his feces-filled cans, the circumstantial proof within the document weighs closely in opposition to his testimony that he randomly selected the Haven of Hope parking zone as his drop zone,” the state supreme courtroom mentioned.
Blakeslee knew everybody at Haven of Hope, and he knew the victims advocate in his homicide case for 20 years, he had testified. He drove 20 minutes with the poop-filled can within the automobile earlier than tossing it outdoors Haven of Hope. And he slowed his automobile down the primary time that he reached the parking zone, turned it round, and made one other cross previous the lot as he tossed the can out.
“We acknowledge that Blakeslee doesn’t seem to have harbored any animosity towards [the victims advocate in his murder case], her colleagues, or their work as sufferer’s advocates,” the state supreme courtroom mentioned. “Nor did he intend to intimidate them. Whereas the document demonstrates that Blakeslee regrets his misconduct, it additionally exhibits that he lacks ample perception into the origin of and motivation for his inappropriate habits to effectuate optimistic change.”
In mitigation, Blakeslee had no different self-discipline throughout “a distinguished criminal-defense trial observe for greater than 4 a long time,” the Ohio Supreme Court docket mentioned, citing a discovering by the Ohio Board of Skilled Conduct. He expressed real regret and testified that he’s now not partaking in such conduct.
Blakeslee had a cooperative perspective through the disciplinary proceedings and supplied proof of his good character.
He additionally testified that he had obtained therapy for post-traumatic stress dysfunction after serving in Vietnam, however he didn’t attempt to set up his dysfunction as a mitigating issue.
Blakeslee didn’t instantly reply to the ABA Journal’s telephone message looking for remark.
