‘Sex Pact’ Lawyer Pleads Insanity to LSD Charges

Ventura lawyer Douglas Palaschak, who has asked female job candidates to sign a contract allowing him to engage in “sexual acts” and who has freely admitted using LSD, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Friday to charges of possessing the drug and furnishing it to a minor.

“It was temporary insanity, of course,” Palaschak said after entering the pleas in Ventura County Superior Court. “We’re not saying I’m crazy now.”

As for how the insanity plea might affect his right to practice law, Palaschak said he was not worried.

“You’re allowed to practice law if you’re insane,” he said. “If they made all the insane lawyers quit practicing, who’d be left?”

Palaschak, 42, has acknowledged that State Bar investigators contacted him after his arrest May 9 on the LSD charges. In August, Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury asked the Bar to expand its investigation to include the contract that Palaschak asked some prospective female employees to sign.

The contract stated that the applicant had been chosen “primarily on the basis of sexual appeal” and that Palaschak was considering the applicant as a potential girlfriend. By signing the contract, the applicant consented “to all words, acts, sexual innuendo, sexual acts, touching, lewd behavior, etc.,” according to a copy of the document released by Bradbury.

Palaschak defended the contract as necessary for his own protection against “sexual blackmail.” He said the contract was signed by only one of the more than 50 secretaries who have passed through his one-lawyer office so far this year.

Bar spokeswoman Susan Stone said she could not comment on a case while it was under investigation. When an attorney is arrested on any charge, she said, “we’re going to look at it no matter what the plea is.”

Palaschak and his secretary, Jessica Jobin, were arrested after another office worker told police they were having an LSD party. Palaschak said he and Jobin took LSD early in the afternoon and were having intense hallucinations by the time police arrived about 5 p.m.

In several interviews after the arrest, Palaschak admitted taking LSD and another illegal drug, Ecstasy, and said they were useful when taken responsibly. “The current company line is that all drugs are bad for everybody, and that simply is not true,” he said.

The Ventura County Grand Jury indicted Palaschak Sept. 5 on charges of possessing LSD, conspiracy, and furnishing LSD to a minor. The latter charge stems from Palaschak’s alleged offer of LSD to the office worker, who was 17.

Jobin, 18, has been charged with possession of LSD. She is free on $5,000 bail.

Palaschak and his attorney, Steve Pell, said they decided on the insanity-plea strategy after reading the grand jury transcript.

“The theory is, if I did offer LSD, it was while I was under the influence of LSD,” Palaschak said. “Therefore, I was temporarily crazy.

Pell agreed: “According to this kid, his (Palaschak’s) brain was frying on acid and he asks her if she wants some.” Pell added, however, that he does not believe the minor’s story because she did not mention the alleged offer in initial interviews with Pell or police officers.

Judge James M. McNally scheduled Palaschak’s trial for Nov. 4. The attorney remains free on $5,000 bail.