Replies

I will not name names but I will say that I am an attorney and I have clients right now who are still being prosecuted after they went to rehab and I have clients in rehab right now hoping the prosecutor will take into consideration that they are getting help for their problem. It is common for people accused of drug crimes to seek rehab.

Now, I do not represent anyone who hasn't been charged with a crime yet, but I don't see a great deal of difference in cases where the person has already been charged and a case where someone who is obviously under suspicion of a crime takes steps that might help him if he is charged. I can see how a prosecutor could reasonably argue that the rehab was too little too late.

Don't get me wrong though, I think this prosecutor is going extra hard on Rush because he is Rush. I'm just trying to correct a misconception you have. I don't know what makes you think prosecutors are all such kind caring people or that the laws are set up to go easy on drug addicts who seek help. I live in a part of the country where low level drug offenders often receive harsher treatment than people who have done much worse crimes like sex offenses, aggravated assaults, thefts and so on. Some of the prosecutors around here might be swayed by the fact that a drug defendant has gotten treatment, others would say the guy should have gotten the treatment before he got caught. I can hear them making the comparison now about how wife beaters should get the anger management classes before they beat their wives, or how the hot check writer should have taken credit counseling before she wrote all the hot checks.

You woefully misinformed about the way low level drug crimes are handled in this country. I'm not faulting you for that because you probably never had a reason to know much about how these cases are handled but it's good that you understanding of these things is being challenged now and I hope you'll take a little time to look into the way low level drug crimes are treated in America. I think you will be surprised at what you will learn and I think it's always good when people finally see how crazy our drug laws and enforcement of them can be in this country. That's the only way we'll ever get them reformed.

What prosecutors do that is equally as evil is the prosecution of minor domestic violence cases for which there is no evidence and calls made by wives/girlfriends who do so only because they are mad. On top of that, most public defenders will not force the prosecutor to establish with the courts aa judicial determination of probable cause. If a defendant simply forced the prosecutor and judge to establish probable cause, most of those phonied-up cases would be dropped in a New York minute.

I was once arrested on a trumped up charge for a nisdemeanor. The judge tried to get me to enter a plea. Unlike most people, I know the law and the court rules. I told the judge we were going to have a hearing to determine probable cause first. After much discussion, he offered to provide an attorney at no expense. I informed him I didn't need one, and he and the prosecutor would have to deal directly with me.

The judge finally realized I was going to force him to follow the law and scheduled a probable cause hearing. I then informed the prosecutor that if they were stupid enough to go to trial, it would last at least four months. and then started to name all the witnesses I would call. She then asked if I was threatening her, to which I replied, "you're damn right I am". The case was dismissed with prejudice the very next day on a motion by the prosecutor's office.