Posted on 12/28/2006 8:19:59 PM PST by HAL9000
Excerpt -
In what police describe as a "probable" suicide leap, a prominent Monterey Bay Area attorney fell at least nine floors to his death at the Embassy Suites Hotel Monterey Bay in Seaside the morning before Christmas.Shortly before 9:30 a.m. Sunday, officers found the body of Aptos attorney Paul Sanford in the west end of the hotel lobby, where he had landed on a large ventilation grate.
Police Capt. Steve Cercone said horrified guests were eating breakfast in the atrium at the time, and a number of witnesses saw Sanford fall from somewhere between the 9th and 12th floors.
"I'm at a loss for words," said Sanford's friend and business associate, Monterey attorney Shawn Mills. "Paul really had his fingers in a lot of different pies. He was from the East Coast, and I used to call him our 'West Coast Kennedy.'"
~ snip ~
(Excerpt) Read more at montereyherald.com ...
I guess his conscience got to him.
Or his clients'. Ever think about that?
Err, uh ... Huh?
O Lord! A lawyer splattered on a ventilator grate! Naturally, the horrified guests had to run from the whole building served by that HVAC system - who wouldn't? Couldn't he at least land away from the ventilation intake?
Yup!
Sanford recently purchased his mother's home in Pebble Beach, and Mills said his friend planned to retire there one day.
Sanford was also active in the national arena. He appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004 beside Elk Grove resident Michael Newdow when he argued unsuccessfully that the words "under God" should be stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance.
A passionate believer in "a dynamic Constitution," Sanford always carried a copy of the U.S. Constitution in his pocket, Mills said.
"He was a champion of the downtrodden, he represented homeless people in Santa Cruz, and fought for free speech," Mills said. "He did a run across America. You name it he's done it. This is a real shock and a loss to the community."
Mills said Sanford decided in recent years to add journalism to his many occupations.
Almost immediately, he caused a stir after he joined the White House Press Corps in 2005, making waves as the first reporter to ask then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan whether the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name might be considered an act of treason.
"There has been a lot of speculation concerning the meaning of the underlying statute and the grand jury investigation concerning Mr. Rove," Sanford asked. "The question is, have the legal counsel to the White House or White House staff reviewed the statute in sufficient specificity to determine whether a violation of that statute would, in effect, constitute treason?"
Presumably there will be an inquest and evidence taken, to determine if any foul play was involved.
Exactly the material I was thinking of.
I suppose declaring it a suicide saves rounding up hundreds of suspects...
Police said that before Sanford fell, hotel housekeepers saw him pacing the hallway of an upper floor. Cercone said Sanford's car was parked next to the hotel, and he was not checked in as a guest.
OK, how did he offend Hillary?
He must have heard about Saddam's imminent execution, fell into a well of despair and took his own life.
It's not nice to say such vile things about the recently dead.
I think he was depressed over the imminent collapse of Air America.
Police Capt. Steve Cercone said a note had not been found, but there was no evidence of an accident or foul play. Sanford, who lived in Aptos, was not staying at the Embassy Suites and several hotel employees told police they saw a man pacing the halls of one of the top floors of the 12-story building, the tallest in the area.
"There is no indication that it was anything other than a suicide," Cercone said. "We believe it was not an accident based on the fact that someone would have to make a definite effort to climb over the balcony."
In 2004, Sanford appeared before the Supreme Court with Michael Newdow, an atheist who sued the Elk Grove Unified School District, claiming that the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment's separation of church and state.
More recently, Sanford was in court on his own behalf, in a breach of contract and defamation lawsuit against Michael Zwerling, the owner of KSCO and KOMY radio stations. According to his attorney and friend Shawn Mills, Sanford alleged that Zwerling broke a 2005 agreement to sell airtime to Sanford and provide him with media credentials. Zwerling declined to comment.
According to media accounts, the disagreement between the men started after Sanford used a KOMY press credential to join the White House press corps and asked then-press secretary Scott McClellan if the administration's leak of Valerie Plame's identity was tantamount to treason. It's unclear what will happen with the case, which was set for trial in February.
"I know it was particularly troubling for him," Brennan said. "He felt he was treated very poorly and it was difficult for him to understand."
The punchline to an old joke was: "a great start"!
Oh, nice one, Sport.
Say, you are a good sport, aren't you?
; )
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