Disbarred lawyer gets probation after judge noted disheveled appearance and ordered drug test
A now-disbarred Georgia lawyer has been convicted of two felony drug charges stemming from a judge’s order that he undergo a drug test because he appeared disheveled and had trouble standing during a court appearance for a client.
The former lawyer, Rand Jason Csehy, 44, was convicted on Tuesday in a bench trial and sentenced to six years of probation, report the Daily Report (sub. req.), the Marietta Daily Journal and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was disbarred in February.
Csehy stipulated to the facts in the bench trial but retained a right to appeal.
The drug tested ordered by the judge was positive for methamphetamine, prosecutors say. A second drug test, when Csehy was out on bond, also tested positive for methamphetamine.
The judge who ordered the drug test, Adele Grubbs, said Csehy had appeared in court last September to argue a motion for a client looking “disheveled” and “perspiring profusely.” She also said he had bloodshot eyes and couldn’t stand without leaning on a bench or the podium.
Csehy was also arrested on drug distribution charges in an Atlanta police sting in 2012, and was on probation for the incident when he appeared before Grubbs.
Csehy had prosecuted drug dealers before becoming a criminal defense lawyer. He told the Atlanta Journal Constitution last October that he was driven to addiction by the crimes of courthouse shooter Brian Nichols, who killed a judge and three others.
Csehy was dating a prosecutor—now his ex-wife—who was prosecuting Nichols on rape charges and may have been an intended target for Nichols’ shooting spree. She was not in the courtroom in March 2005 when Nichols overpowered a deputy and began his attack.
