Ethiopian Review

A lawyer who gained prominence for defending a teenager accused of selling a lethal dose of Oxycontin was himself charged with drugs yesterday, accused of trying to sneak cocaine wrapped in a dollar bill past security on his way to court.

“Some stuff comes through but it’s not often that it’s something like that. [He] should know better,” said sheriff’s Detective Vincent Longo.

Keenan Dennard Holmes, 29, of Peters, was charged with one count of carrying contraband into the courthouse and another count of possession of a controlled substance.

Mr. Holmes last year told The Pittsburgh Courier that he quit a six-figure job to continue his defense of Joshua Stewart, a New Castle High School student who was convicted by a juvenile court judge of selling a fatal dose of drugs to a fellow student.

Mr. Holmes led a relentless defense of his client, who was 16 at the time he was accused, and who had a strong academic record. He mounted a public defense that included press interviews by his client following his conviction and later successfully had a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Mr. Stewart tossed out.

After leaving the Downtown firm of Eckert Seamans, saying he wanted to continue his defense of Mr. Stewart, Mr. Holmes opened The Holmes Law Group in Peters.

A woman answering the phone there described herself as Mr. Holmes’s executive assistant but declined to give a name. She said she had not heard from Mr. Holmes and was unaware of his arrest. She added that he had gone to the courthouse to represent a client in a criminal case.

According to Detective Longo, Mr. Holmes was passing through the courthouse metal detector at 9:45 a.m. Thursday when he emptied the contents of his pockets into a bowl provided for small metal objects. A deputy later said he spotted a dollar bill tightly folded and his suspicions were aroused.

“There are common ways dollar bills are folded up and contain suspected white powdery substances,” Detective Longo said.

Mr. Holmes was held at the Allegheny County Jail pending an arraignment.

- By Dennis B. Roddy | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette