NEW YORK (VINnews) — In a disturbing incident of courtroom violence, a judge in Las Vegas was physically assaulted by the defendant as she was reading his sentence
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The defendant, 30-year-old Deobra Redden, leaped over the bench in the courtroom and attacked the judge at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday after she denied him probation.
Redden was being sentenced by Judge Mary Kay Holthus in the Clark County District Court after he was convicted of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm.
Redden’s attorney had requested that Holthus sentence his client to probation — but the judge demurred.
“I think it’s time he got a taste of something else because I just can’t with that history,” she said.
Suddenly, Redden sprinted up to the bench, sprang over with outstretched arms and knocked the judge to the ground,according to video footage of the event.
An American flag and a Nevada state flag came crashing down in the ruckus. Several court officers can be seen wrestling with Redden in the chaos as he yells profanities at Holthus, according to the footage.
Court officers initially dragged him away, but he broke free and tried to go back after the judge, who was still on the ground. He and others can be seen exchanging punches in the struggle.
“What the hell’s wrong with you man?” someone can be heard yelling in the background.
“Where’s Mary Kay – is she okay?” a man asks when Redden is finally put in handcuffs.
An alarm blared for several minutes alerting others to the incident, according to KLAS.
Holthus suffered a minor head injury but was doing OK, sources told the outlet. A marshal was injured in the fracas, requiring stitches for a head injury as well as suffering a dislocated shoulder.
“Thank God the judge is okay,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement. “Thank God for the heroic efforts of those who came to her aid, especially her marshal and her law clerk.
“Without them, the situation would have been much worse as this defendant exhibited extremely violent behavior and I’m confident there will be consequences,” Wolfson said.
On April 23, Redden threatened “to bust the kneecaps” of another man, “resulting in substantial bodily harm,” according to court documents.
Redden was ordered by a different judge in May to undergo a competency test. He was committed to a state behavioral facility before he was found competent in October, records show.
Redden pleaded guilty to the charges in November. Judge Holthus issued a warrant for his arrest in December after he missed his court appearance, KLAS reported.
After Wednesday’s attack, he is facing new charges of battery and battery on a protected person — with the latter charge indicating the victim was “substantially harmed.”
He’s due back in court — hopefully in handcuffs — on Thursday at 9 a.m. He is being held at the Clark County Jail.
You will be seeing more and
More of it, since the perception is that the courts are biased. With proof.
The security was bad to begin with; a violent defendant such as this criminal, should have been restrained in leg chains, with handcuffs. The Judge was lucky, as this violent incident could have turned out much worse. Court room security, unfortunately is lax in many jurisdictions.
Even in the NYPD, there have been several fatal encounters in police stations, when cops were fingerprinting defendants. Instead of the detectives removing their sidearms, two defendants in separate cases, grabbed the gun of the cop, in the police station, and killed them.
The guy definitely played football at some point.
a thought; ” a reservoir of “KOCHOS” , how much adrenalin & emotion does someone need to jump & fly in the air like that.at such emotionally intense moments, consequences dont matter… in each of us there is deep kochos
That flip over there! For the shows seriously! Of course this guy belongs in jail!!