Barrister Bob Merrelli didn’t expect that his past as an assistant Macomb County prosecutor would come back to bite him as quickly as it did in his new role as a criminal defense attorney.

In his first appointed case assignment, he recognized a familiar name – his own -- on the document that details the charges.

Merrelli as part of his administrative duties in the prosecutors’ office, approved the warrant for his new client, who was charged with relatively minor drug offenses.

“It was hilarious,” Merrelli laughed. “My past is haunting me.”

His client, however, “didn’t think it was very funny,” Merrelli said in the county courthouse as he filled out paperwork to pass on the case.

Poor guy, he’s just trying to earn a living -- on both sides of the same profession.