The Pittsburgh-based disciplinary counsel has recommended that an Erie, Pennsylvania lawyer receive a suspension of at least a year and a day after admitting to being high on cocaine at hearings. What’s more, Nathaniel Strasser, 44, even argued at a disciplinary hearing that cocaine makes him a better attorney, likening the high to being like "caffeine on steroids.”
The court hearing in question took place on November 2nd of last year wherein Strasser worked as a part-time assistant public defender and represented a woman who was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Strasser was "very hyperactive, fidgety" at the hearing and was accused of being on the drug.
A urine test confirmed the suspicion though Strasser contends that he’s “not an addict.” Though the incident has cost him his job, he’s not being charged with a crime at this time.