Flush Nassau DA Kathleen Rice: Her Flush the John's Sting Goes Down the Drain!

• Flush the Nassau County District Attorney!! Flush the Johns a waste of money!! Acquittals and Evidence Suppressions open Nassau County up to Millions in Law suits.
  
  Hey everyone, Remember about 5 months ago when Kathleen Rice was running for re-election she had her gestapo I mean her investigators and the Nassau County Police Vice Squad set up a bunch of guys and she then plastered their faces all over the world on the Internet and accused them all of patronizing prostitutes? Yeah? Well Guess WHAT? That's right, the allegations don't hold water!!!!
  Newsday reported that yesterday Judge Sharon Gianelli Acquitted a guy last month and dismissed charges against another yesterday because the proof (if you can call it that) turned out to be HEARSAY!! Yeah Nassau Da Rice and her merry band of prosecutors used a detective that only heard one half a conversation to testify about what another cop told him about the other half of the conversation. NOT ONLY THAT: That cop allegedly spoke to over 30 men and couldn't remember one convo from another!!!! All that money spent and time, ruination of lives and RICE Can't prove her cases!!
  Now I don't want to get down on the young assistants DA's that are handling this mess. I mean they can only work with what they are given, but really the bosses who approved and implemented this investigation and posted the pictures of these men before they were convicted should lose their jobs. In fact, Rice should RESIGN. DA Rice continues to embarrass this county and has destroyed what was a reasonably good DA's office before she and her carpetbagging CRONIES from Brooklyn's DA's office took it over. Too bad these decisions didn't come to light BEFORE the last election.
  Hat Tip:http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/flush-the-johns-prosecutions-suffer-setbacks-1.6598543

Heather Locklear Arrested for DUI: Understanding Addiction

I was sorry to get the Twitter post earlier this afternoon that the beautiful Heather Locklear, was arrested in Hollywood for Driving Under the Influence of a Narcotic. Earlier this year (June 2008) Heather checked herself into the Sierra Tucson Rehab facility. I was sad because we are watching the unraveling of a person who is well liked, beautiful, as well as a mother of a youngster. I am also worried because I am afraid that people in the courthouses where I work may believe that the rehab, Sierra Tucson was less than a good place for patients to find recovery. I should say here, that I have over the last 15 years sent many of my clients to Sierra Tucson to find recovery from all kinds of addictions. I and the courts have been very pleased with the results.

Addicted people, especially those that understand they are addicted, do not lack control. Neither is falling off "the wagon" an indication that the rehabilitation they underwent failed. First, the problem with most addicts is that they have too much control. They need to control everything. As the world spins out of control, they become more and more unable to to control the pain and the anxiety that is in their world, and they use the anchor of the pill or the drink to help them deal with the fact that they are not in control of others and of events.
Put another way, a "dry" control freak is an alcoholic waiting to happen.

If you think about anxiety and stress as a kink in a hose lying on the ground, what happens is when the "water" (the issues in everyday life) get stuck in the kink the hose builds up pressure and when it finally blows the kink out, it is out of control. The way that "out of control" usually exhibits itself is by anger. The drug then is used to calm the alcoholic down and bring his behavior back into the fold so that he or she will be able to "control" everything again shortly.

When the alcoholic begins to understand that she has only control over herself and her behavior and reaction to things, she begins recovery. It sounds easier than it is. This is especially true for people who find themselves in Locklear's position. She is still required to be beautiful, she is pushing 50 her "best years" work wise behind her and she is going through not one but 2 major betrayals. One her divorce from Richie Sambora, and the other that her "best friend" Denise Richards took up with him. While Locklear has a new relationship, her dealing with the effects of the betrayals and other slights and resentments in her life determine her ability to recover. What I find heroic about her is that she signed herself in before she had a incident (such as the one she faces now)that forced the move. She went to Rehab, because she acknowledged she needed it.

In signing herself into Sierra, Locklear did not finish her journey into recovery, rather, she was beginning it. Sierra is a wonderful place. I have sent many clients there to find recovery and I have visited there to see how it all works. I will say that there are few more beautiful places than this ranch at the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains in southern Arizona. If one has to be in a rehabilitation facility, this is THE ONE. In addition to beautiful double rooms,called Casitas (they are not big, nor plush, but they are quiet and comfortable), The rehab has a hospital with about 8 beds to help those with Psych issues that have to be medicated,or detoxed, but it is not really a psychiatric hospital.

Sierra has a beautiful trail that winds it's way about a half mile into the desert where you can see snakes and coyotes as well as find one's soul. I have watched people take a walk into the desert and come back a changed person. They call this trail the Serenity trail.

Sierra is an "experiential" psych center, It is not just one big group therapy session. Everything is part of the work there; be it old fashion cognitive behavioral therapy, or some type of "fun" activity, it is all meant to open the patient up and make them vulnerable so that they may begin to find the tools to recover. Be it time in the gym, or the pool, or riding and caring for a horse in the equine therapy program, everything in this place is meant to help patients find a balance in all aspects of their lives. In addition, it is meant to help you confront the fears and the issues that is in your life. There is a program to not only help the patient, but to address the other people in the patients life. Family week is a very interesting time where family and friends of the patient can confront the patient and bring all the issues that are not talked about out into the open, in front of others in the group, in a safe way and in a safe place.

Sierra, is a magical place, but it is the continued work that goes on after one leaves the facility that is important. Unfortunately, Publicists, Managers, Agents, and others, may not be supportive of the program. Taking time for meetings and support groups and calling a fellow friend of Bill, or attending alumni meetings all take away time from making money. Further, humility is a key ingredient in recovery. One has to constantly remember that they are not able to finesse this disease. You cannot bat your eyes at it, you can't charm it away. This concept of humility is not in the repritoire of most actresses. Without support from the people, she surrounds herself with, and without a commitment to keeping humble herself, the rehabilitation was sure to relapse.

Often those of us that work with addicts say that relapse is part of recovery. Imagine being told that you can never have something that has always been used by you to reduce your pain and that is readily available to you. Imagine having a headache everyday and not being allowed to use aspirin or acetaminophen. The Addict is going to experiment the moment the pain becomes too great. She is going to see if she can CONTROL (there is that word again) the usage. Assuming that the issues that caused resentments were addressed in the rehab, it doesn't mean that they do not return. If they went unaddressed then they are sure to rear their ugly heads.

Working with someone who is trying to overcome an addiction is not an easy thing. It is frustrating and it can be heartbreaking work. I strongly suggest, that before one condemns a person who has tried to recover and failed, they walk a day in that person's shoes. As a society, we need to see addiction for what it truly is, an illness that often can be put into remission but not one that can be cured. This is not meant to excuse the behaviors of one who is addicted and fails to live within the law, rather it is to explain the work that one must do to beat back an addiction, and the support that individual needs to continue in recovery. It is also an attempt to help the public understand that if steps are taken to regain recovery, we should work with those steps, as the relapse is not an abnormal event in the course of this disease. I do not know if Heather Locklear is guilty of DUI, but I know that given her attempt to find a cure, she should receive our support and not our condemnation.

I wish her well.

A Victory For That Lawyer Dude

Last Tuesday, a Nassau Grand Jury voted not to indict my client Jillian Greico for Assault in the Second or Third Degree or for Harassment. In other words they acquitted her of all charges. In fact they didn't just find her not guilty, they found her to be INNOCENT!!
Too little, too late.

On Halloween, Jill went out with a few friends and participated in the age old "tradition" of egging each other. One kid's egg(not Jill's) accidentally struck a younger kid under the eye. When the egg cracked part of the shell cut his cornea. He is allegedly partially blinded. I say allegedly because I have heard all kinds of reports from full blindness to no issue. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.

At the time of the incident, no one knew the boy had been injured. The next day, the injury was reported on the front page of Long Island's daily newspaper of record Newsday, and in all of the major area media on Long Island and in NYC. When Jill learned of the injury, she immediately went to the police. They thanked her for her information and honesty by arresting her and all but one boy, who took part in the prank. That boy's parents lawyered him up, so he went to the police with a lawyer and he got immunity for ratting out his friends. Of course it turns out that he was the kid who supplied the eggs. Seems that ,but for that kid, nobody would have gotten hurt. Thus it makes sense that the guy who is most responsible walks away and isn't even charged.

Now this was, as I said, an accident. Even the police admitted that no one meant for anyone to get hurt. Nevertheless, police and prosecutors at the victim's family's insistence made arrests and tried to upgrade the original charges to a felony. That seemed to me to be absolutely ridiculous. What bothered me more however was the reaction of the other boys charged. Instead of fighting this indictment the way Jill did, they caved in and entered guilty pleas to the original misdemeanor charges. Whatever they were thinking, it is sad someone didn't tell them that accidents happen. Now those guys who all took guilty pleas must do 3 years probation. What a waste of taxpayers money.

When I juxtapose this incident to the accident Vice President Dick Cheney just had, it is clear that the best intentions can still put one at risk of hurting another. In our ever litigious country every childhood act calls out for not only a negligence action but a criminal prosecution to boot. Somebody please tell me how this was a criminal act. I am wondering how many children are going to be deterred next year from throwing eggs on Halloween because of this accident and prosecution. If the answer is none I would not be surprised. Eggs crack just like water balloons explode and snowballs disintigrate on contact. No one in their right minds (except for comedian Kevin Meaney's mother) thinks tossing one on Halloween is going to put someone's eye out. It just isn't a crime even if you live in Oyster Bay Cove and the people throwing eggs at you live in Woodbury, two of the richest neighborhoods on Long Island (or in America.)

Another thing, does anybody here think the Nassau District Attorney's office and the Police would have made an arrest if this had happened in Hempstead or Roosevelt? Would the TV cameras covered it? I strongly doubt it.

Of course the damage is done to Jill already too. Her name and address as well as her picture have been placed all over the NY Televison and Newspaper scene. She has received hate mail and threats on the phone and through the internet. She has had her innocence stolen. Although she is an honor student and a real good person, people now think her irresponsible and sophomoric, and for what? In her case, her egg didn't even hit anyone, it just landed harmlessly on the ground.

Maybe we are spending too much money here on Long Island for prosecutors and Police. Maybe they need more real crime to prosecute or maybe we just need less of them. I didn't think so until this case came along. Two detectives, two days or more of Grand Jury time, a top prosecutor (nope they didn't use a newbie out of the District Court bureau for this case)the time of four well known and expensive attorneys (yes That Lawyer Dude is expensive when he charges for his time)numerous court appearances (which entailed the use of judge's time, court personnel, and courtroom facilities.) All this waste over a childhood prank and a terrible accident. I estimate that the total cost of this fiasco to the kids, families, and our county, equaled over One Hundred Fifty Thousand($150000.00) Dollars. Imagine the impact half that amount could have if we donated it to a charity that provides sight to the needy, or to a Lions club that provides glasses to those who cannot afford them.

A year ago or more an Eighteen year old kid took a twenty six pound frozen turkey and hurled it from a moving car into the windshield of an on coming car and almost killed the driver of that oncoming car. That was an act of stupidity that called for prosecution. Hurling twenty six pounds of any frozen material can only have one end, damage. That is different than tossing a Three ounce egg five to ten feet. Eggs are supposed to crack and this one did. Frozen turkeys don't crack, they are hard as rock. There is a difference and legal professionals are supposed to comprehend that difference and explain it to angry parents or victims. I guess the combination of rich victims and flashbulbs was too much for the powers that be to deal with. They needed that 1.5 minutes of fame. Too bad they had to ruin a girls life to get it.


EDITED 7/16/08: To exclude the name of the kid that received immunity from prosecution. I still think what he did (seeking to minimize his role and taking immunity from prosecution while still being morally responsible for the actions thus allowing his friends to "take the weight") is dispicable, but he is about to enter adulthood and I suppose that he should no longer bear the scares of this case nor of his actions taken while a scared kid. A dear friend of mine asked that I remove it, on behalf of the boy, so Rick, this is the ONLY time I will do this, but this one is for you.