In the Mea Culpa Award Department

In the Mea Culpa Award Department: A tie between

l Kamen and Laura A. Kiernan
Monday, March 15, 1982 ; Page

In the Mea Culpa Award Department: A tie between former U.S. attorney Charles F. C. Ruff and the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Defense lawyer Kenneth Michael Robinson says he was outraged when he read prosecutor Joe McSorley's comment, in an affidavit for a search warrant, that Robinson had used a "preposterous" defense to beat a massive gambling charge against a client, Roddy Simkins Jr.

Despite the prosecution's extensive wiretap evidence, Robinson managed to persuade a jury that Simkins was a bettor and not a bookie and walked him out of the courtroom a free man.

Robinson demanded an apology -- and got one in writing -- from McSorley's boss, Charles Ruff (now with Covington & Burling). Ruff said he agreed that the "characterizations of the defense had no legitimate place in the affidavit. I regret their inclusion as does Mt. McSorley."

And then there was defense lawyer Thomas Abbenante, who was stunned when the U.S. Court of Appeals accused him -- in a footnote, no less -- of possible obstruction of justice and inducing perjury.

The flap involved an affidavit signed by a potential witness in a narcotics case that Abbenante said cleared his client, David L. Simmons, who was convicted on two drug charges.

A footnote in an unsigned opinion by Judges Roger Robb and George E. MacKinnon said the affidavit, which the judges described as "crudely drawn," apparently was written by Abbenante to support his defense for Simmons. They sent the whole matter back to the trial court for investigation.

Abbenante strenuously denied that he had anything to do with the affidavit, and the Public Defender Service, which represented Simmons on his appeal, asked the judges to retract their statement that Abbenante was responsible for the affidavit, saying there was "no basis" in the court record to support such an allegation.

The judges backed off, amended the opinion and withdrew the offending words.

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