Thursday, October 07, 2004

Beware of Clients Such as This One

Courtesy of CNN, Defendant slashes his lawyer in court:
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- A man on trial for taking a kindergartner hostage leaped up in court Wednesday and slashed his public defender with a razor blade.
...
"I've contended all along that this guy is nuts, and to be honest, this pretty much confirms it," Garraway said late Wednesday. "... what kind of rational person would attack his own lawyer?"

Williams has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on the charges he kidnapped and tried to murder 6-year-old Ben Smith IV, who was taken from his class in March 2003. He is also accused of shooting at officers, barricading himself in a house, and using the boy as a shield during a 12-hour standoff that ended with the child's release.
...
It was not the first outburst in the trial. On Tuesday, while the jury was out of the room, Williams threatened to shoot the judge, the prosecutor and the court-appointed attorney.
I'm not so sure I agree with Garraway's reasoning. What kind of rational person wouldn't attack his own lawyer? And the other outburst? Priceless.