Ohio lawyer who threw feces-filled can at advocacy center has license suspended
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An Ohio lawyer had his license suspended for one year after he admitted to throwing cans of his own feces into a parking lot of a Guernsey County victim-advocacy center.
The Ohio Supreme Court found there was clear evidence to charge Jack Blakeslee, a lawyer for over 40 years, with professional misconduct for throwing a feces-filled Pringles potato chip can into the Haven of Hope advocacy center parking lot in Cambridge, Ohio.
The court ruled there was reason to believe that on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, Blakeslee, of Coal Ridge, Ohio, targeted the advocacy center, which was scheduled to appear in court opposite him for a capital murder trial later that day in Cambridge.
The court said that video from a surveillance camera at Haven of Hope showed Blakeslee driving down an alley and slowing his vehicle as he passed Haven of Hope’s parking lot. He continued driving down the alley, passing several other parking lots, before turning around. He passed Haven of Hope’s parking lot a second time, threw the Pringles can into the lot, and then drove to the courthouse for the 8:30 a.m. trial.
A witness who works at the advocacy center saw the incident before leaving for the courthouse.
The Ohio Supreme Court said that after conducting a hearing, a panel of the Board of Professional Conduct issued a report finding by clear and convincing evidence that Blakeslee had committed the charged misconduct and recommended a public reprimand for it.
Blakeslee, who explained during a deposition that he threw the feces-filled cans "to blow off steam," denied having any knowledge of Haven of Hope’s location and maintained he was not targeting anyone specific, but rather had a habit of placing his waste in Pringles cans and randomly throwing them from his car. He said his misconduct was a "prank" and admitted that it was "stupid."
The hearing panel and the board found Blakeslee’s testimony to be credible and concluded that the relator’s position was not supported by clear and convincing evidence. The board adopted the panel’s findings and recommendation of a one-year suspension, with six months stayed, on the condition that Blakeslee engage in no further misconduct.
According to Blakeslee's website, he has been practicing law since 1976, serving clients in Guernsey, Noble and Washington counties in Ohio.