John Grisham's Got Nothing On This...

Adm. Pellaeon · Post by **Adm. Pellaeon** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:33 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your consideration:

Tonight, in one act, the saga of what happens when lawyers go bad...

CNN.com Law Center
Lawyer guilty of mailing deadly snake

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) -- An Arkansas lawyer and his son will soon be heading to prison after pleading guilty to mailing a threatening communication -- a poisonous snake.

Bob Sam Castleman, an attorney and former city judge in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and his son, Jerrod, were charged with mailing a cardboard box containing a venomous copperhead snake to a neighbor with whom they had feuded. The two pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

The wife of the man to whom the poisonous package was addressed opened the box and saw the snake, about 28 inches (71 cm) long, slither out. Police soon arrived on the scene in Pocahontas, about 140 miles (225 km) northeast of Little Rock, and shot the snake dead.

The elder Castleman faces between 27 months and 33 months in prison, while his son faces a longer term of between 31 months to 44 months on the same charge because he had a previous conviction. A sentencing date has not been set.

Both men tried to enter a guilty plea on Monday but the proceedings were delayed when both tested positive for illegal drugs.

Among the evidence presented to the court were fingerprints on the box that matched those of the accused and the carcass of the snake. Its fangs were intact, but its body had been sliced in half.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/29/snake ... index.html

You know, when you get things in the mail from lawyers, it's generally a bad thing ... but this one just plain takes the cake!

In full and fair disclosure, I feel free to mock lawyers, because if you can't laugh at yourself...

fable · Post by **fable** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:54 pm

I wonder if the snake was related to the attorney and his son by marriage, or through blood?

Adm. Pellaeon · Post by **Adm. Pellaeon** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:56 pm

Well, if you can get rid of your in-laws by putting them in the mail and sending them to someone you really don't like, then a lot of people would have already done that. I'm going to go with "blood," then, because blood's thicker than water, and there ain't nobody thicker (in the head) than those two...

fable · Post by **fable** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 8:40 am

Sounds like they have room for another reptile zoo in Arkansas. And no, I'm not referring to the poor, dead snake.

But we really shouldn't bash lawyers, here, even in a spirit of fun. Some of our members are lawyers, and they're pretty friendly and knowledgeable.

Btw, welcome to SYM, Pellaeon. Hope you survive.

Adm. Pellaeon · Post by **Adm. Pellaeon** » Sat Jan 31, 2004 12:12 pm

But we really shouldn't bash lawyers, here, even in a spirit of fun. Some of our members are lawyers, and they're pretty friendly and knowledgeable.

Yes, yes ... we should keep the lawyer jokes to the minimum. But when the speaker is a lawyer...

Thanks for the invite and welcome, fable. Anyone placing bets on my life span yet?