Business was brisk inside Orleans Parish magistrate court Monday afternoon as criminal defendants filled up the back rows while cops sat waiting to testify. That’s when a joint fell out of attorney Jason Cantrell ‘s pocket and onto the floor in front of NOPD officers.
Cantrell, 43, is an assistant city attorney and son of Magistrate Commissioner Harry Cantrell. He lost in a race for a juvenile court judgeship in 2009.
Cantrell was cited and let go under a city policy for low-level marijuana cases, police said.
An officer said Cantrell was a first-time offender. He was issued a summons for simple possession of marijuana, said Officer Garry Flot, an NOPD spokesman.
Flot said Cantrell was talking to an officer when the joint flew.
Sources painted a comical picture of the incident, saying a pair of cops glanced at the joint on the ground, then at each other before making arguably the easiest collar in the annals of policework.
Officers were seen chuckling as their colleagues led Cantrell out of the courtroom about 4:15 p.m. to write him up.
Harsh. Those cops were really uncool, man.
The guy who used a note with his name and address on it to rob a bank thinks that lawyer is stupid.
It’s a good lesson for all stupid pothead lawyers. Leave your stash at home when you are going to court.