December 2, 2023
In June of 2021, Ohio attorney Jack Blakeslee, who has been practicing law since 1976, was appointed to represent a defendant charged with capital murder. A representative of Haven of Hope, a local victim-advocacy center, attended a number of pretrial hearings.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled for November 30, 2021. According to the Ohio Supreme Court, “Before leaving his home on the morning of that hearing, Blakeslee deposited his feces into an empty Pringles can. He then drove approximately 20 minutes from his home in Coal Ridge to Cambridge with the open can of feces. Between 8:10 and 8:15 a.m., Blakeslee turned his vehicle down an alley where the Haven of Hope parking lot is located… threw the Pringles can containing his feces into the lot, and then
drove to the courthouse for the 8:30 a.m. pretrial hearing.”
Not only was he charged with the criminal offense of disorderly conduct and littering, which earned him a fine, disciplinary counsel sought to have him suspended from the practice of law.
Blakeslee’s defense was novel. You see, he explained during the disciplinary hearing, he had done this precise thing on at least ten other occasions that year and that he randomly chose the locations where he deposited the Pringles cans containing his feces. He specifically denied having any knowledge that the parking lot in question belonged to Haven of Hope when he threw the can from his vehicle on November 30, 2021. This despite the fact that a sign on the building at the entrance to the alley indicated “Haven of Hope Administrative Offices” above a bold arrow pointing down the alley. Oh, and surveillance video showed that Blakeslee slowed his vehicle as he initially passed Haven of Hope’s parking lot, that he continued driving further down the alley, passing several other parking lots,
before turning around and that he slowed again as he passed Haven of Hope’s parking lot a second time, then threw the Pringles can containing his feces into the lot.
This past Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court suspended Blakeslee for a year, but six months of that was stayed based upon his good behavior. Which I assume includes not pooping into Pringle’s cans and then throwing the cans out of his car window.