Gives new meaning to the term hostile witness

Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill

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http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/03/04/california.courtroom.shooting/index.html

(CNN) -- The defendant in a murder trial in Stockton, California, was shot dead Wednesday after attacking the judge during a courtroom recess, authorities said.
Paramedics wheel Judge Cinda Fox out on a stretcher after she was attacked during court in Stockton, California.

Paramedics wheel Judge Cinda Fox out on a stretcher after she was attacked during court in Stockton, California.

David Paradiso, suspected in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, was on the stand when the judge dismissed the jury for a recess after the defendant's mother became upset and walked out of the courtroom, according to witnesses and court officials.

Paradiso then jumped up, ran behind Judge Cinda Fox and began punching her, said Karen McConnell, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin County courthouse.

Deputies fired three shots at Paradiso, who was killed, she said.

Video from outside the courthouse showed Fox being wheeled out in a stretcher and into an ambulance. Her left elbow was wrapped in gauze, but she otherwise appeared alert.

When approached by reporters, she said, "I'm OK," but declined to comment further.

An elderly man wearing a juror badge also was wheeled out of the courthouse. He said he was in the same courtroom and he said the judge had been stabbed in the neck, but Fox did not appear to have any such injury.

It was not clear from the video whether the elderly man was injured or ill.
 
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So to put this into PRM terms, the Deputies who shot him should be arrested. Her life was not in danger, she was just getting beat up. No knife wound was seen. [frown][rolleyes]
 
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So to put this into PRM terms, the Deputies who shot him should be arrested. Her life was not in danger, she was just getting beat up. No knife wound was seen.

I beg to differ with the above statement: many people have ended up dead because somebody punched them in the headd causing a fatal brain injury.How old was the judge? what was the age and shape of the suspect? was he younger? more fit? things are not always way they seem. Perhaps it was justified. what if it was a frail 60 year old on the bench and a much younger and more fit 20 something year old bashing this person in the face and head Isnt it possible that this could cause death or serious bodily injury, what if the officers were across the courtroom and could not stop the beating right away? To many varibles for me to say if it was or wasnt justified Dead is dead the cause is irrelavant shot, stabbed or your head beaten in the end result is the same.

__________________
 
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stinx said:
So to put this into PRM terms, the Deputies who shot him should be arrested. Her life was not in danger, she was just getting beat up. No knife wound was seen.
Click to expand...


I have no problem they shot him. I see what this poster means though. Had it been anyone else, anywhere else (since its a courtroom and we are law abiding citizens we would not have been carrying) we would have been charged with murder. I'm happy they did their job but there is that damn double standard again.
 
Threat of severe or life-threatening bodily harm is the standard for a justified shooting in many places, not just MA.
 
I think the courts are more than a bit intolerant of any hostile actions against jurists. Remember back in the 60's, when they would take judges hostage, with a sawed-off 12 Ga duct taped to their necks? Zero tolerance these days.

Attacking a judge is about as certain a death as trying to hold up a gun store...[smile]
 
Legalities aside, it brings another court proceeding to a speedy close - saving the taxpayers a great expense. The downside is that his mother's emotional state did not improve, I'm sure.
 
FRESNO, Calif. --

A man accused of killing his girlfriend was shot to death in a Stockton courtroom Wednesday after he attacked the judge presiding over his murder trial, officials said.

David Paradiso, 28, was shot by a police detective after he left the witness stand and began attacking San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox during a break in proceedings, said Dave Konecny, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

Paradiso took the stand to testify around 2 p.m. and was quickly asked by prosecutors why he killed his girlfriend Eileen Pelt.

He responded: "Cause she deserved to die."

Paradiso's mother, Debra, stood up and started yelling, leading the judge to call a recess. As jurors filed out, Paradiso left the stand and approached the judge from behind "with an unknown cutting instrument," Konecny said.

Karen McConnell, a county spokeswoman, said witnesses reported seeing Paradiso lift the judge and begin punching and possibly stabbing her when bailiffs ran to her aid and shots rang out. Lodi Police Det. Eric Bradley has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated, city spokesman Jeff Hood said.

"He was going after her jugular, just as he did to the victim in this case," his attorney, Chuck Pacheco, told the Lodi News-Sentinel. "He was not stopping stabbing her, going for her neck. Bradley did the right thing."

Fox, who had a bandage on her left arm as she was carried out of the courthouse on a stretcher, told reporters, "I'm OK," before being taken to a hospital. She was released later Wednesday. Calls to her home were not immediately returned.

The courthouse immediately went on lockdown, although people were allowed to leave after the building was secured, McConnell said.

Konecny said he did not know how Paradiso obtained a weapon. He said at least two bailiffs were on duty in the courtroom at the time of the attack.

Paradiso was on trial for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend, Eileen Pelt, in the neck as his mother drove them in her car. Debra Paradiso told police her son forced her to drive to Amador County, where he dumped the body.

Paradiso's attorney, Charles Pacheco, said in opening arguments last week that his client was high on methamphetamine at the time. Pacheco did not immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment.

Aaron Paradiso, the suspect's brother, told KCRA-TV of Sacramento that his brother was "crazy" and said he had told authorities and attorneys that he shouldn't be put on the stand. He said his mother had warned deputies that the family believed Paradiso had a cutting weapon from some sort of clipper or scissors.

Concerns about courthouse security have grown since 2005, when an unshackled defendant being escorted into an Atlanta court for a rape trial stole a deputy's gun and went on a shooting rampage. A jury found Brian Nichols, 37, guilty in November of murdering the deputy, a judge and two others.
 

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