Lawyer Passes bar then goes to bar

[CCI]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A judge ordered a blood-alcohol test for a defense lawyer who was slurring his words, then declared a mistrial after declaring him too tipsy to argue a kidnapping case.

"I don't think you can tell a straight story because you are intoxicated," the judge told Joseph Caramango as she declared a mistrial for his client.

Caramango, 41, acknowledged in court that he was drinking the previous night, but maintained he was not drunk. If convicted, his client faces life in prison.

"I don't believe I've committed any ethical violation," Caramango said Tuesday, disputing the accuracy of the breath-alcohol test. "If it proved anything, it proved I was not intoxicated."

Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt announced Caramango had a blood-alcohol level of 0.075 percent. Nevada's legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers is 0.08 percent.

In an exchange recorded by courtroom video, Caramango arrived about 90 minutes late for trial and was slurring his words.

The judge asked if anything was wrong, and Caramango said he suffered a head injury in a rear-end car crash while driving to court.

Leavitt said she was suspicious because details of Caramango's account varied.

Caramango also identified a woman who accompanied him to court as his ex-girlfriend, Christine. But when questioned by the judge the woman identified herself as Josephine. She said they met only about 20 minutes earlier at a bar and coffee shop.

Leavitt did not hold Caramango in contempt of court, and it was not immediately clear if he would face discipline by the State Bar.

 

[ScriptOhio]

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are
things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now
published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while
these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!


ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.


ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.


ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you
forgot?


ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his
sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's twenty, much like your IQ.

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you [censored]ting me?


ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: getting laid

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS : Your honour, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a
new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a eposition
notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you o
to?
WITNESS: Oral.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are You qualified to ask that question?

And the best for last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for
pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you
began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive,
nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and
practicing law.

 

[sandgk]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A judge ordered a blood-alcohol test for a defense lawyer who was slurring his words, then declared a mistrial after declaring him too tipsy to argue a kidnapping case.

:: ::

Leavitt did not hold Caramango in contempt of court, and it was not immediately clear if he would face discipline by the State Bar.

A little follow-up on the peregrinations of the dyspeptic attorney ..

[FONT=verdana,arial]Attorney who came to court drunk now sober, committed to rebuilding career

[/FONT]A lawyer who showed up to court drunk has been sober for 90 days now, and he said last week he's committed to rebuilding his shattered legal career in Las Vegas.


"Cocaine was my main problem," Joseph Caramagno said. "It got to a point where I was abusing it on an almost daily basis, and it was hard for me to function without it. There were many nights, especially on the weekends, when I was involved in that type of activity."


:: ::


Caramagno said he is still in the early stages of sobriety, but he nonetheless plans to resume his career in Las Vegas despite his nationally publicized implosion in District Court in August.


"There is really no choice," Caramagno said. "The options are go back to alcohol and drugs, put a bullet in your head, or go forward with your life, and the other two are not options to me. I have to go forward, and I have to get back slowly what I gave away. I'm not going to run away from this."
As of 2005, Caramagno certainly had a lot going for him. The former prosecutor from New York was on the team of lawyers that earned Rick Tabish a murder acquittal in the high-profile Ted Binion murder case. He was widely recognized in the proceedings for his aggressiveness, and he was also the subject of a high-profile rebuke from District Judge Joseph Bonaventure in the case for his "win-at-all-costs" strategy.


Meanwhile, his law practice was also starting to take off, earning him a nice house on an exclusive golf course property in northwest Las Vegas and a luxury sports car in his driveway.


But Caramagno said he also was immersed in the city's party scene, and he liked it. He spent much of his nights gambling at casinos and partying with strippers.


"I guess I was, for a lack of a better term, intrigued by that lifestyle," Caramagno said. "It sucked me in."

 

[ScriptOhio]

THE YEAR'S BEST COMEBACK RESPONSE

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the police officer's credibility .....

Q: 'Officer --- did you see my client fleeing the scene?'

A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.'

Q: 'Officer -- who provided this description?'

A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.'

Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?'

A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.'

Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?'

A: 'Yes sir, we do!'

Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?'

A: 'Yes, sir, ... I do.'

Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?'

A: 'Yes, sir.'

Q: 'Now, ... why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?'

A: 'You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.'

The courtroom EXPLODED with laughter, and a prompt recess was called.