3 Men Banned From Stand-Your-Ground Murder Trial After Videotaped Brawl Outside Fla. Courtroom
A brawl outside a Florida judge’s courtroom on Monday resulted not only in criminal misdemeanor charges against three men accused of participating, but in trespass warnings that will prevent them from attending the scheduled October first-degree murder trial in an Osceola County stand-your-ground case.
Charged with affray in the 9:40 a.m. fight that followed a postponed hearing were James “Zeke” Parker, the stepfather of the defendant, Jayson Clair; James Kun Sr., the father of two young men who were shot to death outside a St. Cloud bar; and Jeremy Milyon, a friend of the Kun family, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Milyon, who is accused of starting the melee by punching Parker, apparently got the worst of the fight, and was treated and released from a local hospital after complaining of a possible broken jaw.
Parker reportedly responded by telling Milyon, “You want a piece of me? Let’s go,” and punches began flying. A woman was knocked to the floor, and a St. Cloud police officer caught up in the battle was accidentally punched or hit in the back of the head by a fist or an elbow, according to the newspaper. Meanwhile, a cameraman for WFTV-Channel 9 who was also stuck in the midst of the action began taping.
The Sentinel says the brawl ended after the St. Cloud officer, apparently Detective Christian Anderson, took one of the fighters to the floor and sheriff’s deputies also stepped in.
Anderson told a reporter for WFTV that the courthouse melee was unprecedented in his 17 years on the job.
“Obviously, emotions ran high. I stepped in to intervene, just based on the hostile actions, and while trying to stop it, I ended up getting struck in the back of the head,” he said.
The New York Daily News also a story that includes still photos and the following CBS This Morning account with video footage.
