Court Security

As Lawmakers Wield Budget Ax, Courts Struggle to Do More with Less, Plan Layoffs

As lawmakers throughout the country struggle to make ends meet in difficult economic times, many are seeing the courts and legal services as an area in which cuts can and must be made. The result is a growing list of jurisdictions in which services will be reduced and staff laid…

Mar 29, 2011 11:51 PM CDT

Caught on Video: 4 Court Marshals Struggle to Control 1 Enraged Handcuffed Woman Sentenced to Jail

It took four marshals to restrain an angry woman sentenced to jail in a Nevada kidnapping and child endangerment case this week. Although apparently handcuffed by a marshal immediately after sentence was pronounced in the Clark County case, Latasha Williams pulls deputies back and forth in a video clip of…

Mar 25, 2011 5:03 PM CDT

Who Let the Tiny Monkey Into Court, in a Woman’s Bra? It Wasn’t Armed, Deputy Says

A tiny monkey wearing a flowered dress and diapers created a stir in a Virginia courthouse yesterday when a woman took it out of her bra. “I can’t understand why the deputy didn’t see her,” the unidentified woman tells the New Era-Progress, explaining that the marmoset was peeking out of…

Mar 11, 2011 4:30 PM CST

Reports: Judge Pulls Gun on Crutch-Swinging Defendant, Who Is Then Shot By Cop in Ala. Courtroom

Unhappy about a judge’s jail sentence or fine in a misdemeanor harassment case, a defendant recovering from a broken hip with a cast on his leg reportedly began swinging his crutches in a courtroom at the Goodwater, Ala., city hall today and was shot in the abdomen and side by…

Feb 3, 2011 11:50 PM CST

Judge Dismisses Case Against Inmate Accused of Threatening Prosecutors

A Pennsylvania state court judge has dismissed criminal charges against an inmate accused of harassing and threatening the prosecutors who put him behind bars on a parole violation concerning an earlier stalking conviction. Although Judge William Furber Jr. believed that David Thomas Petko, 48, did in fact make the comments…

Jan 20, 2011 6:31 PM CST

Pa. Inmate in Wired Cell Accused of Offering Cash and Harley for Slaying of Judge, 2 Others

Prosecutors from two Pennsylvania counties today announced that a prison inmate has been charged with plotting to kill a state-court judge. Lance Patrick Greenawalt, 44, allegedly offered his Camp Hill cellmate cash and a Harley Davidson motorcycle to murder a judge who had overseen a previous case in which Greenawalt…

Jan 14, 2011 9:23 PM CST

Distraught Litigant in Fla. Courthouse Aims Gun at Own Head Before Judge Talks Him Into Giving Up

Apparently distraught about his divorce case, an armed man entered a South Florida courthouse this morning through an unsecured exit and demanded to speak with a judge while pointing the weapon first at his own chest and then his own head. Hearing of the situation, a senior judge overseeing a…

Jan 14, 2011 6:27 PM CST

Man Allegedly Fired Gun at Home of Judge Who Made Ruling He Blames for Costing Him His Own Home

A general contractor who claims he lost his home due to an inappropriate case consolidation that ruined him financially has been charged with shooting at the home of the California judge who made the consolidation ruling, while both the judge and his wife were inside. No one was hit by…

Dec 22, 2010 7:30 PM CST

Two Colo. Courthouses Now Using Full-Body Scanners

Taking a cue from airports, two Colorado courthouses are using full-body scanners at security entrances. The US Marshals Service, which is responsible for federal court security, is exploring the idea as well, according to an Associated Press article. The Colorado courthouses, in Douglas and El Paso counties, station guards in…

Nov 24, 2010 5:38 PM CST

Lawyer Disbarred for $3,500-an-Hour Fee and ‘Bizarre Behavior’

A Kansas City lawyer has been disbarred for charging a soldier a fee of $3,500 an hour, shouting profanities at court clerks, brawling with court security officers and suggesting that a judge is pedophile. The Kansas Supreme Court disbarred lawyer Carlos Romious on Monday, according to the National Law Journal…

Oct 13, 2010 3:07 PM CDT

Inmate Charged in Alleged Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Minn. Prosecutor and Sentencing Judge

Apparently blaming a local Minnesota prosecutor who happened to be his neighbor for his latest criminal conviction, John Stephen Woodward at first made legal ethics complaints against Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, reports the Star Tribune. But when they didn’t accomplish what he wanted, Woodward allegedly moved on to Plan…

Sep 29, 2010 9:20 PM CDT

More Judges Take on Role of Fashion Police; Reporter Banned for Short Dress

Judges across the country are cracking down on people who come to court dressed in inappropriate attire. Judges in Delaware’s Kent County are so fed up that they instituted a dress code, adopted after one woman showed up for court in her pajamas, the Wilmington, Del., News Journal reports. Banned…

Aug 18, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Seeming Case-Related Slayings This Week: 3 Judges, 2 Clerks, 1 Lawyer, 11 Others

A magistrate judge and a court clerk were shot to death today in Belgium as they were in a courtroom working on a civil case near the Palais de Justice in Brussels. It is the first time in the country’s history that a magistrate has been killed in a courtroom,…

Jun 3, 2010 7:06 PM CDT

Man Gets 8 Years for Liening Property of 3 Federal Judges

The already-imprisoned founder of a the Montana Freeman militia group has been sentenced to an additional eight years for liening the property of three federal judges after winning a default judgment from a “court” of his own creation. Daniel Petersen, now 67, is the first individual ever convicted under a…

Apr 7, 2010 7:08 PM CDT

Courthouse Cooler Warned of Explosion But Actually Contained Phone Books

A note on a soft-sided cooler outside the federal courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Mo., today said its contents would explode. But after the building was evacuated and a number of employees were sent home for the day, investigators determined that the cooler contained phone books, Fox News and the…

Apr 5, 2010 5:33 PM CDT