My high school’s band is on a trip to Atlanta and they were in the same area as the courthouse when it happened. :o I’m glad I graduated.
My friends wife is a deputy sheriff here in Southern California. She tells me that for this very reson male prisoners are never moved by a female deputy working solo, no matter how minor the offense. I suspect the authorities in Ga. may consider a similar policy as things are sorted out and new procedures put in place.
<minor hijack>
The murdered judge, wasn’t he the same guy who not long ago ordered a woman to have no more children?
I’ve listened to this all day on the radio. Just a few comments…
I only heard them mention this once, so if I’m not mistaken, he was on trial for kidnapping his ex-girlfriend - he bound her with duct tape, repeatedly beat the crap out of her, raped and sodomized her (the charge is aggravated sodomy, not just “sodomy”), for three days. This guy is a genuine nut case.
It wasn’t the Judge’s decision to let him into court in street clothes. Apparently, the courts don’t like defendants to be in front of a jury in prison garb, because it puts the visual in their mind that the defendent is guilty.
I drive roughly the same car as the guy is thought to be in right now. Someone in my office this afternoon put a sign on my car that says “I’m not the guy!” I was amused. 
Yes, it’s the same Judge. Did he actually “order” her to do it? I thought it was more of a plea deal thing?
(A woman had 7 kids, she killed her 5 week old baby, part of her sentence included getting her tubes tied)
[OT]
I work for the company that developes the software the court reporter used. She was one of our customers. We’ve been getting asked about this all day.
[/OT]
Apparently there is an 8th floor bridge to another building.
In the county I’m in, everybody in court (sheriff’s deputies) have pistols. I don’t se the need for this…if they screen everyone coming in (via a metal detector), then things should be pretty safe. This guy commited the mayhem that he did, because he was able to get the gumn away from the female officer.
The sheriff’s deputies should have mace and a billy club, but it would be a lot safer if they didn’t have guns.
Pretty much anything can be a weapon. And pretty much anything can turn into a really, really bad weapon in the hands of a nasty criminal or someone so deranged by potentially going to jail that they are willing to attack others. Guns are needed as a deterrent. Better care needs to go into watching over them.
That comment does make sense, but… On the other hand, if all he had was the shank he was allegedly found with yesterday, he’d never have made it as far as he has, or done as much damage.
Corrections Officers do not carry guns when coming into contact with convicts for just this reason (so it cannot be taken away from them and used against them).
I can’t help but wonder if it’s standard procedure for one deputy to be watching the defendant in that court. *I would imagine * that procedure broke down at some point (meaning someone wasn’t where s/he was supposed to be to provide backup).
He killed a judge, a cop and a woman. He’s a dead man.
Are you saying they are out to kill him as soon as they find him?
I would agree with that. He will die resisting arrest.
It’s not. Ever since the SCOTUS decision, it’s been generally understood that attempts to enforce this law will fail.
<tangent>A relative of mine was involved in the case of a guy who pulled this number in Florida several years back, and was in the courtroom when it happened. Seems we never learn.</tangent>
You do realize you’re accusing cops of plotting murder.
Not that we haven’t had killer cops around here… heck we’ve even had cops killing cops. But that’s news because it’s so rare.
If this guy dies resisting, it will almost certainly be because he’s violent and stupid and goes down shooting, not because your average cops are prone to kill people who anger them.
Imho, the police who protect me and my family are to be commended for facing a dangerous job and exercising restraint under enormous pressure.
That’s what they said on the news here-in Allegheny county, guns are forbidden in the court room-even by law enforcement. Officers have to store their weapons in lockers before entering, and security is really tight.
They even showed some of the weapons confiscated that people tried to sneak it-never made it past the metal detectors.
You are probably right about the average cop. But neither would I call it rare that a cop killer is killed rather than apprehended. Sometimes they are armed, and sometimes the police just thought they had a gun. Some cops do plot murder.
I don’t understand why there was a situation where this guy was alone with one guard, that should never have happened.
Considering the insanity this guy has shown I would be surprised if he doesn’t a) kill himself, or b) die trying to kill other cops.
He may surrender though, I just find it hard to believe a man who’s gone this far will find any reason to stop.
You mean, there’s no way he won’t be convicted of murder one, right? Do they have the death penalty in Georgia?
IANAL, etc.
I meant more along the lines of I doubt he’ll live through his arrest. He’s armed and probably crazy enough to try to take out any cop that catches him, meaning whoever nabs him will probably have to put him down for their own safety. And wouldn’t that be a shame …
Pretending that he surrenders peacefully, though, there’s no way this is going to trial. Any lawyer sticking him in front of a jury would be committing malpractice IMHO. The only thing that a plea bargain is gonna decide is whether or not his life is spared. They take it to trial, chances are he’ll get the DP.