HIGH COURT SUSPENDS ATTORNEY WHO TESTED POSITIVE FOR COCAINE AND OPIATES

SARASOTA COUNTY -- The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a criminal
defense attorney who tested positive for cocaine and opiates after a
circuit judge forced him to take a drug test.

The emergency suspension of Lawrence R. Diamond, 50, is delaying
about 30 pending cases in which he represented defendants, including
several charged with cocaine trafficking or possession.

Several of his clients say they paid Diamond to represent them and
have not been able to contact him since, according to Florida Bar records.

Three judges have filed complaints against Diamond after he did not
show up in court in several cases between April and July, those bar
records state.

Diamond was missing court dates, and when he showed up he was often
late and perspiring with a flushed face, Circuit Judge Charles
Roberts wrote in Sarasota County court records.

Diamond was a no-show when one of his clients was supposed to plead
guilty in July. He could not be reached because his office phone was
disconnected and his cellular phone voice mail was full.

Roberts found Diamond in contempt of court, fined him and ordered him
to take a urine drug test that day. Diamond skipped the test,
according to court records.

So Roberts had deputies arrest Diamond on another contempt of court
charge, and ordered them not to release him until he provided a urine sample.

When Diamond tested positive, Roberts sentenced him to drug offender
probation. Diamond tested positive Sept. 7, the day after he was
suspended from practicing law, probation records show.

Roberts could order Diamond to take a drug test because he found the
attorney guilty of criminal contempt of court, which is sentenced
like any other misdemeanor crime, chief district Circuit Judge Lee
Haworth said.

"He wanted to make sure his clients were being protected by a
drug-free lawyer," Haworth said.

Diamond did not return a message left on his cell phone Tuesday afternoon.

The suspension order requires him to stop withdrawing any money from
any trust account without approval of the state Supreme Court. It
also requires him to deposit all money received in the practice of
law into trust accounts and tell the bar where to find them.

A landlord evicted Diamond from a rental property on Midnight Pass
Road in July, court records show.

Diamond was also arrested at his new address on an obstruction of
justice charge in August.

Sheriff's deputies who went to his house looking for a missing woman
and a man she was last seen with say Diamond lied to them, Sheriff's
Office records state.