Peter Pattakos melts down on Facebook

Defense strategy for Ashli Ford remains murky after counsel's rant about vast conspiracy

SANDUSKY — There is a fundamental, unwritten rule that professional attorneys follow: You argue your case with evidence inside a courtroom, not by losing your composure on social media.

Apparently, Cleveland-area attorney Peter Pattakos missed the memo.

In a lengthy, highly emotional post published on his law firm’s official social media page Thursday afternoon, Pattakos chose to bypass standard legal decorum. Instead, he staged a bizarre digital public relations campaign—doubling down on unproven claims of jury corruption, railing against a “procedural mess” in the Erie County Courthouse, and dedicating multiple paragraphs to lobbing personal insults at this publication.

When a high-priced defense attorney stops focusing on the criminal statutes and starts acting like a drama queen on Facebook to protect a pathetic, serial-scheming client, it likely means just one thing: The facts of the case are completely against them, and they are desperate to change the subject.

Say what you mean

Pattakos’s social media tirade labeled our coverage as “deranged” and “fake journalism.” But there is a glaring, massive omission in his public temper tantrum.