Suppose that a man is facing trial. He knows he’s guilty and will more than likely be convicted with a long prison sentence. Now, suppose every day during the court case he waits until the judge and jury have sat and the case is in session, then starts screaming constantly so that the proceedings cannot continue. If this happens day after day, what would the be the judge’s likely response (other than anger)?
Just a WAG, but would it be possible to only let his attorney in the court room and perhaps just have him wired in via video conference, which can be muted, or just bring in an audio feed that only his attorney can hear.
Seems like you can currently watch this play out IRL on the news…of course maybe an Iraqi judge’s handling of the situation is not what you are looking for.
If it were 1969, and you were a member of the Chicago Eight you could find yourself bound and gagged and ultimately sentenced to four years in prison for contempt, and separated from the other defendants so that the trial would go down in history as the Chicago Seven.
This seems to be the strategy of Brian David Mitchell, who is accused in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
Every time he has been brought into court (for a sanity hearing to see if he is fit to stand trial) he has yelled, prophesied, sung hymns, etc… until he has had to be forcibly removed.
Since he appears to act normally at most other times, everyone sees through his act, but at the very least it’s buying him time.
The defendent may be absent from trial if he waives his right to be present. One way he can waive his right to be present is when the court warns the defendant that it will remove the defendant from the courtroom for disruptive behavior, but the defendant persists in conduct that justifies removal from the courtroom. See FRCRMP Rule 43, or similar state versions.