Weight Of Evidence

A Louisiana Hearing Committee has recommended a year and a day suspension with all but 60 days deferred and probation for an attorney’s unprovoked assault on a longtime family friend.

The respondent was angry over treatment of his son, who had been employed at a restaurant owned by the victim.

…we must note that the Respondent has no prior disciplinary history. He is a former athlete, a fit 6’3″, 220 pounds. He is noted as a very competent attorney and is well respected by his peers, all of whom are very accomplished litigators. He has no prior history which would mark him as a violent man, although he admits to being “aggressive.” He has been married but once, and has two teenaged sons. He is very active in his community, in sports, and in fraternal and communty affairs. He has no apparent history of emotional or personal problems.

Yet, after taking treatment of testosterone, there was a vile, hostile, threatening, response to the harmless text of a 68-year-old, 135 pound restaurant owner, who has been a friend to Respondent’s father and family for decades, and who even employed Respondent’s son for a brief period. The violent texted threats of Respondent to Mr. Cascio were follwed by a drive by Repondent to the restaurant, who entered through a back door, with what [a witness] described as “a most awful grin” (referred to by Mr. Cascio as an “OJ look”) grabbed Mr. Cascio by the ankles, pulled him off a counter on which [he] was sitting, causing him to fall violently to the floor, hitting his head. Respondent then dragged Mr. Cascio a short distance through the restaurant, in the presence of his employees (with all the degradation, insult and embarrassment that entailed), to the kitchen. Respondent placed his knee on Mr. Cascio’s chest, and telling him “I’ll kill you.” 

News Star reported on the encounter

According the warrant, a deputy was called to Freddie Cascio’s Italian & Cajun Ristorante, 4207 Old Sterlington Road, Monroe around 5:45 p.m.

According to the restaurant owner, Neal entered the business and walked to the rear of the building where he was sitting on a counter. Neal then reportedly pulled him from the counter by his legs, causing him to fall to the ground and dragged him by one leg out of the back of building to a sidewalk.

The victim told the deputy that Neal then put his knee in the victim’s back, placing all his weight on the victim while using profanity toward him.

The victim reportedly told the deputy that he’s known Neal for a long time, and Neal knows he had polio in the past so his body lacks flexibility. That made it hard for him to breathe, he said.

He told the deputy that he thought Neal was going to kill him.

(Mike Frisch)