LAWYER TARGETED BY RAID ASSERTS HIS INNOCENCE
"..CAVENDISH, Vt. -- William A. Hunter was awakened at 3 a.m. June 9 by loud knocking on the door of the four-bedroom Cape on a dirt road where he lives with his wife and three young children.
He stumbled downstairs to find seven agents from the US Drug Enforcement Agency at his door.
They handed Hunter, a lawyer, a search warrant that said several of his clients had been arrested that night on drug charges and the government was looking for records of their illegal business activities. A judge approved the search of his home and basement office.
Hunter, 41, a Harvard Law School graduate and former state legislator who runs a law practice in Vermont that more closely resembles a legal aid service, would learn later that day that he was a suspect in a money laundering scheme. Newspaper headlines said so the next day, quoting an affidavit filed in US District Court.
The reports have stunned residents and lawyers in Vermont, where Hunter is a widely known, controversial figure - revered by some for his representation of so many poor people, reviled by others for the zealousness of his defense of many of the same people.
Hunter's shabby tweed jackets and his junk cars are a frequent source of ridicule, as is his lateness for court hearings.
After reviewing the case of a former client that Hunter represented in a divorce, the professional conduct board for lawyers in Vermont ruled last year that Hunter was overextended by all of the work he does for disadvantaged clients.
While the board expressed some sympathy for him, it put him on probation for nine months for mishandling the divorce case..."
Bump!