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Lawyer suspended after arguing cocaine enhanced his cognition

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 7, 2024, 11:55 am CST

A former public defender accused of representing a client at a November 2022 preliminary hearing while under the influence of cocaine has received a suspension of a year and a day.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended Erie, Pennsylvania, lawyer Nathaniel Edmond Strasser in a Nov. 6 order, the Erie Times-News reports.

While representing himself in the disciplinary case, Strasser focused on the idea that cocaine enhanced his performance as an attorney, according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s disciplinary board. Its Aug. 7 report and recommendation was attached to the state supreme court order.

Strasser raised the issue when cross-examining Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Chris Weber. The officer is a drug recognition expert who noted that on the day of the preliminary hearing in November 2022, Strasser was hyperactive and fidgety, his pupils were dilated, his nose was bleeding, and one of his nostrils was hairless and inflamed.

Strasser tested positive for cocaine use after Weber confronted him following the preliminary hearing. He was fired from his job as an assistant public defender.

Cocaine “increases your awareness, correct?” Strasser asked during his cross-examination of Weber at the disciplinary hearing.

“Cocaine has a positive effect on one’s cognitive abilities in low doses,” Strasser continued. “My mental awareness was at a heightened state, not a lower state.”

Weber acknowledged that Strasser “had severe focus” on the day in question but said it appeared that he was “focusing on a hundred things and couldn’t quite figure out what was important at the time.”

Strasser had also stated that he wasn’t in a 12-step program because his “problems aren’t really addiction.”

Strasser later hired a lawyer in the disciplinary case, acknowledged that he was an addict and sought substance abuse probation. The disciplinary board refused, however, to reopen the case to allow evidence of his substance abuse and treatment from years ago.

Reopening the case “would set an untenable precedent, as it would allow other similarly situated respondents to take their chances at a hearing, assess the outcome, and if they are dissatisfied, reopen the record to present evidence that was readily available to be presented but was not,” the disciplinary board said.

Strasser “failed to accept responsibility for his misconduct, lacked appreciation that his appearance at a criminal proceeding on behalf of a client while under the influence of cocaine was harmful to his client and the integrity of the legal profession, and notably failed to express any remorse,” the disciplinary board said.

A mitigating factor was that Strasser has practiced law since 2007 with no prior discipline.

Strasser’s lawyer, Philip Friedman, did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s email seeking comment. Strasser did not immediately respond to a Journal voicemail.

Lawyers and law students needing help for mental health issues or substance abuse disorders can contact their state lawyer assistance program. The ABA has published contact information here.