A Nevada judge preparing to hand down a sentence was attacked Wednesday by a defendant who leapt over a defense table, then cleared the judge’s bench and landed atop her, a video of the courtroom incident showed.
Deobra Delone Redden, who was being sentenced in a battery case, launched at Clark County District Judge Mary Kay Holthus, knocking her out of her seat and against a wall, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
In the video, courtroom personnel at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas were seen trying to drag Redden from the judge’s bench amid punches being thrown.
Holthus suffered injuries but was not hospitalized, according to court officials.
A courtroom marshal was also injured as he came to the judge’s aid and was hospitalized for treatment of a bleeding gash on his forehead and a dislocated shoulder, The Associated Press reported.
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 Center.
Redden now faces 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 on allegations that Redden attacked a person with a baseball bat.
Just before the attack, Redden asked the judge for leniency in the sentencing, 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 didn’t 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 Holthus indicated that she was indeed sending Redden to jail, the court marshal moved to handcuff him. Redden yelled expletives, broke away from the marshal and charged the judge’s bench, the video showed.
Records showed that Redden previously served prison time in Nevada on a domestic battery conviction, according to the Review-Journal.
He has pleaded guilty and been convicted in three felony cases — attempted theft in 2015, battery with substantial bodily harm in 2018 and battery constituting domestic violence in 2021. He also was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of battery in 2016 and a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property in 2023, court records show.
A Nevada judge was attacked Wednesday by a defendant in a felony battery case who leaped both a defense table and the judge’s bench.
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 4, 2024
The judge “experienced some injuries,” according to a court statement. The defendant was arrested and now faces new felony charges. pic.twitter.com/O25wF2RwOR
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