Judge: Lawyer Is Too Drunk to Argue Case
Aug 08 2006

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A judge ordered a blood-alcohol test for a defense lawyer whom she said smelled of alcohol, 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," Clark County District Judge Michelle Leavitt told defense lawyer Joseph Caramango as she declared a mistrial for Caramango's client, Dale Jakuchunas.

Caramango told the Las Vegas Review-Journal for a Tuesday report that he was not drunk, and had been ready to go forward with witness testimony. Jakuchunas, 32, faces life in prison if convicted.

"I've always considered myself the consummate professional," Caramango said. "I take all my cases very personally."

He said he received a head injury in a rear-end car crash while driving to court on Thursday, but that police were not called. Caramango did not immediately respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.

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

The judge asked if something was wrong, and said she became suspicious when details of Caramango's accident account varied.

Caramango also identified a woman who accompanied him to court as his ex-girlfriend, and called her Christine. Questioned by the judge, the woman identified herself as Josephine and said she just met Caramango about 20 minutes earlier at a nearby bar and grill.

Leavitt summoned Caramango and prosecutors into her chambers and ordered Caramango to be examined by a courthouse nurse.

The nurse told the judge that Caramango said he had shots of tequila hours before court. Caramango acknowledged in court that he was drinking the previous night, but maintained he was not drunk.

Leavitt ordered Caramango to take a breath test in court, then declared a mistrial.

"For the record," the judge said, "your blood-alcohol content is .075."

The legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers in Nevada is 0.08 percent.

Leavitt did not hold Caramango in contempt of court, and it was not immediately clear whether he will face discipline from the State Bar of Nevada.

We had a case in which several members of the jury, before being sworn in, approached the bench and told the judge they couldn't be fair because it appeared the defense attorney was too intoxicated to pay attention. The lawyer denied it, saying he was just concentrating. Judge declared a mistrial.

The lawyer was subsequently arrested for possession of heroin. Twice.

Better to take care of the issue at the time it is noticed than in a writ, years later.

Once, long long ago and far far away, when I was a misdemeanor prosecutor, I tried a quick change artist. The judge and myself, as well as my court partner, were convinced the defense attorney was on crack or some substance. On one trial day the defense attorney was two hours late. The judge thoroughly grilled him in chambers, and he was adament about not being intoxicated, claiming he was just sleep deprived.

After the guilty verdict and punishment, the jurors told us they were seriously thinking of not guiltying the defendant because his lawyer was so, so bad, even though the evidence clearly showed him to be guilty.

As icing on the cake, on the way out of the courtroom to start his jail sentence, the defendant "slipped and fell" injuring his back.

Yeah, right.

A couple of years later, the lawyer was disbarred for a litany of reasons.

can the judge do that for attorneys who are obviously ineffective?