Academic

Judge And UB Law Trial Advocacy Director Out In DUI Coverup

By Dan Filler

The Buffalo News was perhaps a bit hyperbolic in its headline, UB Law School Fires Disgraced Attorney,  but the news out of Buffalo isn't particularly pretty.  Anne Adams, Buffalo Law School's Director of Trial Techniques was fired, and a New York State Supreme Court Justice - Joseph Makowski - resigned, all because of a DUI and its subsequent coverup.  On Friday, Adams plead guilty to three misdemeanors:  drunken driving, offering a false instrument for filing and attempted tampering with physical evidence.  Apparently last September, Adams and Makowski were at local Chinese eatery, Shanghai Reds, discussing the UB trial advocacy program.   Adams had too much to drink and was pulled over by the Hamburg Police for driving drunk.  A breath test showed Adams at twice the legal limit for booze.  What happened next isn't clear from the story, but it seems that Adams did two things that are no-nos. 

First, she went to her doctor the next day, got blood drawn, and convinced the doc to date the vial the prior day - to show no evidence of alcohol.  Next, she got Justice Makowski to sign an affidavit stating that Adams did not appear intoxicated when they left Shanghai Reds.  The DA managed to get enough evidence of this deceit that he could approach the Judge, convince him to withdraw his affidavit, demand that he resign, and cop a guilty plea from Adams.  Once Adams plead guilty, UB fired her from her $70,000/year position. 

This is quite a story - there is a ton of background missing from these accounts.  What would have made Adams think that the DA would simply accept a blood sample so out of whack with a breathalyzer?  Did the DA approach the doctor first?  Is the doctor subject to ethical sanctions?   And how poorly was Makowski's affidavit drawn that it wasn't at least plausibly consistent with a DUI arrest?  In any case, it's good to have future litigators learn something useful from their former trial techniques director.  Don't falsify evidence!

Besides the article above, here are my sources.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on February 23, 2009 (boomark / email).