NATION : Unzipped Prosecutor Demoted

MIAMI — A ranking Dade County prosecutor was demoted for “offensive and intolerable” conduct in unzipping his trousers in front of a woman helping defend an accused killer.

State Atty. Janet Reno stripped Abe Laeser of his chief assistant for major crimes title and cut his salary from $88,740 to $85,000.

“I expect persons in your position to set an example for all lawyers in the office by conducting themselves in a dignified, professional and courteous manner,” Reno wrote in a reprimand to Laeser.

Laeser acknowledged that the April 17 incident happened but said that the gesture was directed at a male attorney and that he had not realized that trial consultant Rebecca Lynn was in the room.

Laeser said the gesture was made in reply to a male public defender when he asked Laeser, “What do you have for me?”

“I unzipped and rezipped in a tenth of a second, and then I told him what I had for him were some witnesses.”