By Anika Myers
Palm, Orlando Sentinel12:26 p.m.
EDT, July 7,
2011

 A disbarred Coral Gables attorney and activist with a reputation for making
nuisance filings to the Florida Bar said today that he would file a complaint
against Casey Anthony attorney Cheney Mason for making a lewd gesture after
Mason’s high-profile clients was found not guilty of murder charges Tuesday.

John B. Thompson, who described himself as an attorney, said in a complaint
addressed to the Bar and released to the Orlando Sentinel that Mason violated
Bar rules for “maintaining the integrity of the profession.”

A Florida Bar representative said the organization had not received
Thompson’s complaint and that the South Florida man has been disbarred and can
never reapply to practice law in the state.

In 2008, the Florida Supreme Court barred Thompson from making any additional
filings unless they were signed by another attorney.

The Florida Bar also reported receiving multiple complaints and public
records requests from Thompson on other issues.

A complaint against Jose Baez, also one of Casey Anthony’s attorneys, has
been pending since before her trial. The Bar does not provide information about
pending complaints and cases.

A message to Mason’s office was not immediately returned.

Defense attorneys Jose Baez and Mason celebrated their victory shortly after
the not-guilty verdicts were read with a champagne toast at Terrace 390, a
restaurant on North Orange Ave.

At one point, Mason made a lewd gesture with both hands at spectators who
gathered outside the restaurant.

At some other point, Mason made a different gesture with his middle finger.
That move was caught by an Associated Press photographer.

“The Bar’s current regulatory policy is that even actions by lawyers in a
private setting that reflect poorly on the profession are disciplinable. This
was an obscene activity in a public setting,” Thompson’s complaint alleges.