Travis County Court at Law No. 6 Judge Jan Breland’s benchslappery comes not from her pen but rather from her gavel by way of the penalty suffered by unctuous young attorneys who perform lewd hand gestures in her court.
Local criminal (no pun intended) defense attorney Adam “Bulletproof” Reposa (the “[b]ulletproof” part is the moniker Reposa assigned himself on his SBOT page) was sentenced to ninety days in jail today for his use of an onanistic hand gesture in court while opposing counsel, an assistant D.A., was explaining the terms of a proposed plea bargain to Judge Breland.
Not only will Reposa now get to spend some quality time with many of his former clients, he has apparently parted ways with his law partner, Bruce Garrison, who has removed Reposa from their formerly joint website.
While retired District Judge Paul Davis was the jurist who actually handed down today’s sentence (which, while still surprisingly severe, was only half of the statutorily-allowed maximum sentence of six months imprisonment, TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 21.002(b) (Vernon 2005)), the benchslapping credit for sanctioning Reposa in response to his self-gratificatory sign language in the first place rightly goes to Judge Breland.
* * * UPDATE * * *
See “Bulletproof”’s interview with the media immediately after he was sentenced. My favorite do-it-yourself quote:
I’m not very good at __________________.
What, “being a lawyer,” “not pissing off judges,” “staying out of jail,” “avoiding malpractice,” “dodging penological bullets?”
Thx to Judge Breland, the Statesman, KEYE, an anonymous Texas lawyer, and Above the Law
April 16, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Bulletproof Reposa! Oh how I wish I had saved a copy of his old web page!
April 16, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Menudo,
I remember well your forward many years ago of Reposa’s website and thinking it had to be a joke. No lawyer could be that infantile and idiotic. I stand corrected.
Fantastic email address by the way.
-020033
April 18, 2008 at 4:02 pm
[...] Mr. Reposa’s recent trial on contempt charges for making onanistic hand gestures in court, Assistant D.A. Randy Leavitt [...]
April 18, 2008 at 5:47 pm
[...] former law partner, Bruce Garrison–who I assumed severed ties with Reposa after Reposa was sentenced to ninety days in jail for contempt of court, may be cognitively challenged [...]
April 23, 2008 at 3:59 pm
[...] In these cyber-pages, we’ve chronicled great feats of benchslappery by U.S. District Court Judges Kent and Sparks, Texas Supreme Court Justice Willett, and even documented the contempt-slapping of one particularly self-loving lawyer. [...]
April 28, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Do you people care that you are total fucking nerds. Look I had a client who was willing to plead on a case where he was innocent, just to get out of jail. Not on my watch. The line was “Judge, let the record reflect Mr. Reposa is whispering in his client’s ear while I am talking.” When a prosecutor says that, the horses have jumped the fence. I really don’t care what your agenda is, but at some point in your life you or a loved one is going to be accused of something and need a real lawyer to stand up for your rights. That’s all, until then keeping on rocking in the nerd world, and feel free to contact me directly, anytime, anyplace, or just keeping being anonymous pussies.
April 29, 2008 at 11:05 am
Bulletproof,
I truly hope that this is really you.
I should just let your comment stand on its own eloquent merits, but I have a few tenths of an hour to spare right now.
First, thank you for the compliment, if by calling me a “total f[*]cking nerd” you mean to imply I exhibit legal acumen you clearly do not.
When you attempted to use an analogy, i.e., the “horses have jumped the fence,” did you really mean to use either of the well-known maxims, “the horses have the left the barn,” or “jumped the shark?” Don’t think I’ve ever heard the “horse … fence” phrasing before. But then, I’ve never been booked for pretending to gratify myself in court either.
As for my “agenda,” I share the same motivation as Judge Davis, who you might recall reminded you just before handing down your sentence that “[i]t [wa]s [his] honor to uphold the integrity of the judicial process.”
Call me an idealistic “nerd world” rocker, but anytime both you and your former law partner have matching mugshot photos, pretending to know what you’re doing “on your watch” strains credulity.
Keep on rocking in the soon-to-be-disbarred world Bulletproof.
-020033
April 29, 2008 at 10:44 pm
What legal acumen do you display sir? I try lawsuits for a living. How many cases have you tried? If the answer is zero, then in my book you are probably a fucking nerd who sits on his computer all day blogging with other nerds. Uphold the integrity!! Yeah that is what my main concern was when my client who was factually innocent was being railroaded into a guilty plea to get out of jail. That is substantial justice. Most lawyers I know would have no problem entering a plea and golfing. No you must care more about decorum and “looking” professional. Having something to separate you from the commoners. There is probably nothing down and dirty about you. And so you know I have gotten more acquittals in 2008 than any other lawyer in Travis County, which is the standard that I use for measuring the worth of a lawyer. So as I said keep on rocking in the vanilla white, never been, just proud to be a soft piece of bread nerd world. And tell me again, who the fuck are you and what do you know about contempt law other than how it is spelled?
April 30, 2008 at 8:31 am
Bulletproof,
Wow, this must really be you, I guess business isn’t exactly thriving since your conviction?
I agree with you that few–except for perhaps your former law partner–can challenge your demonstrated capacity to get “down and dirty.”
Moreover, having never actually been held in contempt of court–much less been convicted of the offense–I must confess as well that my knowledge of contempt law is not as expansive as yours.
In light of your current predicament, you might consider going out this morning and picking up a copy of Justice Scalia and Bryan Garner’s new book entitled, “Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges.” I haven’t yet read it myself, but I am fairly certain that pretending to masturbate in open court is not listed as one of the recommended persuasive techniques.
Best of luck to you in retaining your law license.
-020033
April 30, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Right. My law license is fine, dipshit. But you have yet to respond to what you have accomplished as far as “legal acumen” besides being a fucking nerd. And if you want to put $100k down on who grosses more in 2008 I will put it in writing. My name is Adam Reposa. What is your name pussy??
April 30, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I thought your name was Adam “Bulletproof” Reposa.
And judging by your office address, I think you may want to hold on to your $100 grand.
May 1, 2008 at 12:47 am
Right. My law license is fine, dipshit. And I own my office outright. But you STILL have yet to respond to what you have accomplished as far as “legal acumen” besides being a fucking nerd. And if you want to put $100k down on who grosses more in 2008 I will put it in writing. My name is Adam Reposa, and BULLETPROOF is my nickname. What is your name PUSSY?? I SAY “PUSSY” BECAUSE I DON’T THINK YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO SAY YOUR NAME. THAT IS SAD.
May 1, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Bulletproof,
My apologies for confusing your monikers, I didn’t know if you were still going by the charming alias, the “DWI Stud.”
However, when you begin to cut and paste your replies and litter your argument with all caps and schoolyard taunts, I think it’s time to shut it down.
One last note though, I probably wouldn’t recommend you attempt to “put it down in the [appellate] courtroom” in the same fashion you claim to have done at the trial level. Your odds of making an appellate panel “take it like [you] want” it are likely remote. But then again, I guess you failed to do that with either Judges Breland or Davis, didn’t you?
Invest that $100 grand you seem so eager to part with into a good malpractice policy, and all the best with your contempt appeal.
-020033
May 2, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Bulletproof: I am a former prosecutor who took lawyers like you and ate them for lunch. You can zealously defend your clients–you can even be known as the most hated lawyer at the DA’s office and wear that title as some badge of honor–but I assure you that your client did not benefit one bit from you prentending to masturbate in the air while the DA was talking. That kind of display may work well at the playground–but in a real courtroom it has no value whatsoever–oh wait, I take it back–it has the value of 90 days in the County.
May 13, 2008 at 12:47 pm
[...] Texas Supreme Court’s Overuse of Anonymous Opinions.” Of course, after my recent “discourse” with someone purporting to be Adam “Bulletproof” Reposa, pretty much anything [...]
June 3, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] blog’s newfound buddy, Adam “[Gee, maybe I'm not so] Bulletproof” Reposa, is–unfortunately–back [...]
June 24, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I went to law school with Adam, we share some friends in common, and I have to say that I have nothing but fond memories of him. This entire incident has been blown way out of proportion, and while I certainly do NOT condone Adam’s underlying conduct, I also don’t think that this incident should taint the career of a (truly) talented trial lawyer.