Patterico's Pontifications

5/17/2019

Tampa Bay Times: Florida Bar opens investigation into Clearwater lawyer …

Filed under: Environment,Law — DRJ @ 7:30 pm



[Headline from DRJ]

Florida Bar opens investigation into Clearwater lawyer … who shooed raccoon off his boat:

The video that Cope posted showed a man, presumably Cope, yelling at a raccoon that he said had hidden away on the boat for several hours before revealing its presence after the boat was “well offshore” — or about 20 miles out, he wrote on Facebook.

“Get off my f—— boat,” the man yelled at the raccoon, which was scurrying around the bow. “We’re just going to have to push him off.” The man shouted more while approaching the animal. Then the raccoon appeared to fall off the boat. The video zoomed in on the raccoon paddling in the water, trying to stay afloat. “So long, sucker,” the man said.

The raccoon is presumed to have drowned.

There is also a pending wildlife investigation/complaint.

— DRJ

25 Responses to “Tampa Bay Times: Florida Bar opens investigation into Clearwater lawyer …”

  1. He posted the video?!!! Rotsa ruck, buddy, you deserve all you get.

    nk (dbc370)

  2. Justice – take him 20 miles out in a boat and shove him off.

    LYNN HARGROVE (740caa)

  3. In the legal profession, I thought they called this “referring the client to a colleague.”

    Dave (1bb933)

  4. This doesn’t seem like legal misconduct BUT there probably are rules/ethical guidelines regarding criminal violations. Maybe the wildlife investigation could result in criminal consequences, and in turn maybe that could result in Bar sanctions. That’s a lot of maybes.

    DRJ (15874d)

  5. #4

    Yeah. And maybe yeah. And maybe yeah. And then again, this is nuts. Or maybe the raccoon was ratting him out to the Feds.

    Bellman (fc5c41)

  6. “The animal was running around the boat hissing and growling, making it impossible for me or my friend to drive the boat,” Cope wrote. “Knowing raccoons can be rabid and unpredictable, the only realistic option we could think of in the moment was to get the raccoon off the boat.”

    Normally this would make a good defense, but the video undercuts it a lot (you don’t make videos when you are in fear of being attacked). As does “so long, sucker.” On the other hand we don’t know how much damage the raccoon had done prior and how realistic it was for him to cart it back to shore.

    I imagine he’ll plead this down to some low-level misdemeanor and pay a fine.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  7. Also, “Florida Lawyer” is a special case of “Florida Man.”

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  8. Was the raccoon pregnant? Double murder?

    mg (8cbc69)

  9. Is “20 miles” offshore still within jurisdiction?

    jim2 (a5dc71)

  10. What a despicable person.

    B.A. DuBois (8ed1cc)

  11. It is difficult to get a conviction without a body.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  12. I always wondered what happened to Tracy Flick. Did she stay in Washington as an aide to that handsome up-and-coming congressman?

    No, apparently she’s found a responsible position with the Florida Bar Association.

    Bar associations are capable, occasionally, of performing genuine service to the public. This is an example instead of what happens when power-mad, demented idiots seize positions of authority that genuinely productive people are too busy to pay attention to most of the time.

    Parachute me into any city anywhere in the United States, and point me to the courthouse. Within a half hour at a minimum, I’ll find you a half dozen real problems that a state bar association ought to be addressing.

    Knocking raccoons off a boat is never going to be one of them.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  13. He posted the video. It reminds me of this Bruce Willis movie scene (contains racist word).

    nk (dbc370)

  14. Beldar, the Bar may have had no choice but to investigate, since anyone (including, say, PETA) can file a complaint.

    Kishnevi (9bda4f)

  15. Fair point, Kish, thank you.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  16. I wouldn’t want to be stuck on a boat with a wild racoon, but I do feel sorry for the animal. And while I don’t think this is something for the Bar Association to discipline, I bet it does impact his career in the short-term. Note that I did not say it would negatively impact his career. There are people who want to hire lawyers who they think delight in hurting others.

    DRJ (15874d)

  17. He’s my neighbor and a good guy. Probably gives more to charity than the moonbats on this page.

    Too bad babies in the womb don’t get this much empathy.

    Robin Zander (56cdb4)

  18. Thanks Robin.
    Is your friend going to say he thought it might be rabid?

    steveg (354706)

  19. It is nice of you to defend your neighbor, Robin, and I get that isn’t the kind of situation people are prepared to handle. But I don’t see how attacking people for talking about this story is helping your neighbor.

    DRJ (15874d)

  20. Also, Robin, I think everyone realizes that being stuck offshore on a boat with a wild racoon is not good. I am glad no humans were hurt, and it is easy to imagine someone getting hurt in this situation.

    Nor do I think your friend’s bar license should be threatened.

    But, in this video, he doesn’t really look like the great guy you know.

    DRJ (15874d)

  21. We don’t know how long it took to get the raccoon out of wherever he was. What we see is the last minute of what might have been a very frustrating and potentially dangerous twenty minutes. Even the “FU” at the end might be understandable in context.

    I remember the time when a skunk got into my wife’s home office ….

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  22. I don’t think he violated any law or attorney disciplinary rule. I think he played a cheap trick on himself when he posted the video of his day tripper, like he’s some kind of a [attention] w**re, and he should expect all the southern girls, and other people, yelling at him “Don’t be cruel or we’re gonna to raise hell”.

    nk (dbc370)

  23. Not entirely OT. I am by no stretch an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan, but this is how a manly man handles a sneak flying/drop kick from behind:

    Schwarzenegger tweeted to his more than four million followers: “I thought I was just jostled by the crowd, which happens a lot. I only realised I was kicked when I saw the video like all of you.”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-48322307

    nk (dbc370)

  24. A 71-year old manly man at that.

    Arnold’s made some mistakes, but he’s OK in my book.

    Dave (1bb933)

  25. He should have just called the Coast Guard, they would have been happy to dispatch a cutter.

    askeptic (728656)


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