The New York Daily News by ALISON GENDAR AND JOSE MARTINEZ - April 8, 2009
A decorated ex-cop who claimed he tested positive for cocaine because he ingested the drug during oral sex with his girlfriend can't have his job back, a Manhattan judge has ruled.
Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower last month shot down helicopter pilot Jon Goldin's attempt to overturn his April 2008 dismissal from the NYPD. Goldin, a 15-year veteran, tested positive for cocaine in October 2006 in a random drug test using hairs from his arm. Goldin - an adherent of the "straight edge" lifestyle that rejects substance use - didn't challenge the drug test. He sued last year after a state appeals court rejected the NYPD's use of hair to test cops for illegal drug use.
"This is a very special human being who devoted his entire life to being a police officer," said lawyer Paul Goldberger. "He would no more use drugs than the man on the moon." Goldin's lawsuit said the cocaine in his system was the product of "passive ingestion" from performing oral sex on girlfriend Coreen McCarthy, who, once he tested positive, admitted to him that she was a regular cocaine user. "She never told [Goldin] about her drug use," court records say. The couple met at a punk concert and, according to court records, they "would often sweat" while having sex "three or four times per week." They split immediately once Goldin tested positive for cocaine.
More than 70 friends went to bat for the ex-cop, saying they had never seen him take even a sip of coffee and that he abstained at bars while others drank booze. "Clearly the wrong result was reached in this case," Goldberger said. "This guy should be a cop. Rakower ruled that even though the appeals court put a stop to hair tests in December 2007, Goldin's firing must stand because he voluntarily cooperated with the drug test and allowed hair samples to be taken from his arm. The state's highest court Tuesday agreed to hear an appeal from the NYPD in favor of hair testing, which the city began using in 2005. jmartinez@edit.nydailynews.com
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