Court Officials in Las Vegas Have Sustained Injuries After Defendant Jumped to Attack Judge During Court Ruling.
Mary Kay Holthus and court officials injured in incident which has led to new charges against Deobra Delone Redden.
A defendant has attacked a judge during a felony battery case, dragging her to the floor and sparking a brawl involving court officials and attorneys, officials and witnesses have said.
In a violent scene captured on courtroom video on Wednesday, Deobra Delone Redden jumped over a defence table and the judge’s bench, knocking the Clark county district judge Mary Kay Holthus from her seat and against a wall then pulled her to the floor. She sustained some injuries but was not sent to the hospital, courthouse officials said.
A courtroom marshal was also injured as he came to the judge’s aid and was hospitalised for treatment to a gash on his forehead and a dislocated shoulder, according to the officials and witnesses.
The attack occurred at about 11am (local time) at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas.
Redden, 30, was wrestled to the floor behind the judge’s bench by several court and jail officers and courtroom staff members.
He was arrested and jailed at the Clark county detention centre, where records showed he faces several new felony charges, including battery on a protected person, referring to the judge and court officers.
“It happened so fast it was hard to know what to do,” said Richard Scow, the chief county district attorney who prosecuted Redden on a case that stemmed from an arrest last year over allegations that Redden attacked a person with a baseball bat.
Redden’s defence attorney, Caesar Almase, did not respond to requests for comment.
Redden was not in custody when he arrived at court on Wednesday. He wore a white shirt and dark pants as he stood next to Almase, asking the judge for leniency while describing himself as “a person who never stops trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is”.
“I’m not a rebellious person,” he told the judge, later adding that he did not think he should be sent to prison. “But if it’s appropriate for you then you have to do what you have to do.”
As the judge made it clear she intended to send him to prison, and the court marshal moved to handcuff him, Redden yelled expletives and charged forward amid screams from members of the public in the courtroom.
Records showed Redden, a Las Vegas resident, was evaluated and found mentally competent to stand trial before pleading guilty in November to a reduced charge of attempted battery causing substantial bodily harm. He had previously served prison time in Nevada on a domestic battery conviction, state records show.
Holthus, a career prosecutor with more than 27 years of court experience, was elected to the state court bench in 2018 and again in 2022.
In a statement, the court spokesperson Mary Ann Price said officials were “reviewing all our protocols and will do whatever is necessary to protect the judiciary, the public and our employees”.
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