ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER ARRESTED ON DRUG CHARGES

A lawyer with the Broward Public Defender's Office was arrested Sunday
on cocaine trafficking and other drug charges.

Rachael E. Kobin, 31, and a man who was in her Davie home, Alberto
Julio Berje, 34, were charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of
Ecstasy, possession of steroids and possession of hydrocodone, Davie
police said. Each was in the Broward County Jail on Monday under
$18,000 bail.

Broward Public Defender Al Schreiber said Kobin joined his office
April 1 and will be placed on an unpaid leave at the end of the month
after her vacation time runs out. She will be on leave until the
charges are resolved.

"I just hope things work out for her," Schreiber said.

Kobin, who joined the Florida Bar in 2003, was in private practice
before joining Schreiber's office. Neither Kobin nor Berje had been
arrested in Florida before Sunday, records show.

Police went to Kobin's apartment in the 2800 block of Southwest 73rd
Way after receiving two 911 calls. One call came from Kobin, who was
screaming for help, and the other from a neighbor who said he heard
screaming, police reports say.

When officers arrived, they said, Berje answered the door naked and
bleeding from the head. Officers heard a woman screaming inside the
apartment and forced their way inside, Davie police Lt. Bill Bamford
said.

They found Kobin in a darkened bedroom naked and crying but apparently
uninjured. Officers turned on flashlights and saw white powder on a
dresser, several syringes filled with liquid, and blood in an open
dresser drawer, the report said.

Officers said that Berje seemed confused and unsteady on his feet. He
told them he had passed out and hit his head in the bathroom. He also
told officers he was taking medication and pointed out a bottle of
pills. Inside the bottle, police found pills, some of which tested
positive for Ecstasy, police said.

Officers obtained a search warrant and found 54 grams of what they
suspect was cocaine, steroids and several tablets of the painkiller
hydrocodone, police said.

Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.