TOM Tavares-Finson says he is defending Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, not because he has known him all his life, but because he is the best defence attorney handling extradition matters right now.

At the same time, Tavares-Finson is tickled pink by street chatter about his most famous client whom he described as “just an ordinary Jamaican going about his everyday business”.

Coke, whose extradition on drugs and weapons trafficking charges has been requested by the American Government, is the benefactor of a legacy established by his deceased father, Lester Lloyd Coke, aka Jim Brown, whose death under mysterious circumstances, while awaiting extradition, remains a talking point, with endless theories about how and why he died.

The elder Coke was a political enforcer who built his business empire from the proceeds of drugs and weapons trafficking, cornering a large portion of some United States drug markets. He was also a founding member of the infamous Shower Posse — a ruthless criminal network which was headquartered in Tivoli Gardens in the 1980s and which United States authorities say may be responsible for as many as 1,000 drug-related deaths in its heyday.

Dudus, who would have been an infant in 1980, inherited that legacy, which has seen the murder of his elder brother, Mark ‘Jah T’ Coke.

Another brother, Michael ‘Chris Royal’ Coke, was killed by security officers along Waterloo Road several years ago, and he has also lost a sister to violence.

But despite all that has happened to his father and siblings so far, “there was never a time when he wished his name wasn’t Coke”, Tavares-Finson told the Sunday Observer.

“I believe that individuals have to recognise and accept what is your past, your legacy if you want to call it that,” added Tavares-Finson. “You cannot change it. You, however, have to carve your own future, and that is what he is doing.”

The lawyer said that Coke, who is a graduate of Ardenne High School, “was not an idiot”. Neither was he a fan of the Press nor a great talker.

“There is nothing mythical about him,” added Tavares-Finson. “He is just an ordinary Jamaican going about his everyday business, looking about himself, trying to improve the lot of his children, his family and his community, with a recognition that he has an influence, and he takes his influence very seriously, and that influence is what is propelling the transformation of Western Kingston, and a large part of the Corporate Area.”

Part of the ‘law’ of sections of the Kingston Western constituency is that no schoolchildren should be on the streets after 8:00 pm on weekdays, and loud music must not be played to disturb children or residents beyond certain times.

“I think the influence he has is borne out of a recognition that criminality and tribal politics take you and your community and your family nowhere,” reasoned Tavares-Finson. “It serves the interest of someone; it does not serve the interest of persons in the inner city. That is the genesis of it.

“I reject this notion that he is trying to reach out, to become anything at all. He is conducting his affairs and people are making him into a mythical character. That is not his doing. Left to his own devices, he would not be on the front page of any newspaper,” he suggested.

The lawyer also sought to give an insight into the diminutive strongman’s lifestyle, offering that he likes eating healthy.

“He is not a Rastafarian, but would be most suited to that lifestyle. So he is a fish and vegetable person mostly. He takes salt, and does not eat pork,” said the lawyer.

With Coke’s extradition request taking such a long time, street talk that he is locked away and is being extremely cautious about the people with whom he associates brought huge peals of laughter from Tavares-Finson.

“Naah sah,” chuckled the lawyer. “Right now he is busy planning his annual Christmas treat for this Sunday, and he will be there. But he won’t be in any boat that goes in and around the harbour downtown. I can tell you that.”

Regarding his being retained by Coke, Tavares-Finson said: “He knows that in choosing me he is choosing the best. And let’s not forget, I run a very successful law practice which I share with George Soutar, Marlon Gilbert-Roberts and my son Christian. So he is not going to choose an attorney that he just stumbles on. He uses the best, or one of the best. And I believe that to be so also for the 100-odd clients I currently represent. They choose an attorney they can trust.”