Members of the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association gathered at the offices of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid Tuesday to discuss pro bono opportunities to meet their 20 hours of mandatory annual service for The Florida Bar. Sarah Fowler of Legal Aid explained various projects, such as the intake clinic at the Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless, Guardian Ad Litem project for abused or neglected children, the Ryan White panel for HIV/AIDS patients with legal troubles and the mental health project, that would satisfy pro bono requirements.
JWLA members were also polled on the current legal questions surrounding Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith. While many of the women declined comment, here are some of the answers:
Question: Do you think Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith should have been charged with drug use or driving under the influence?
Answer: “No, I don’t think he should. He wasn’t impaired according to the video. That’s what they determined according to the video. And then, what do you charge him with — possession of something in your bloodstream — I don’t think so.”
—Lois Ragsdale
“I think he should be charged with the drug charge. I would like to have some information about the circumstances under which he submitted to that urine test. I would imagine somebody would ask whether he would submit to it and the answer would be no. He wasn’t involved in an accident or anything.”
—Aberdeen Speights
“It’s not really a yes or no answer. In my opinion you would have to have a lot more evidence. I did look at the video on the Times-Union website and as a former prosecutor I know based on that and with the evidence I know of, I agree with the state attorney’s decision that it was impossible to pursue that charge and pursue it beyond a reasonable doubt. You can’t prove that someone is under the influence or impaired because they test positive for a drug in their system because there’s residual effects. I agree just on the evidence that they couldn’t have charged him.”
—Patricia Dodson
“I’m disappointed that it even showed positive. I’m wondering what the chances are that it’s a false positive. I heard on the news last night that it’s not possible to have a false positive for cocaine; then how did it get there? If he doesn’t have a reasonable answer then it makes me very skeptical about his denial of it.”
—Maria Keebler