LAS VEGAS (AP) – A man caught on video attacking a judge in a Las Vegas courthouse after climbing over his bench and desk has been sentenced to decades in prison.
Deobra Redden was ordered Tuesday to serve between 26 and 65 years in a Nevada prison for the attack on Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported.
Redden, 31, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in September to attempted murder and other charges, ending his trial shortly after Holthus testified he feared for his life when Redden blocked his four-metre-long (1.2-metre-high) bench and landed on top of him. .
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The attack happened on January 3 as Holthus was about to serve Redden’s sentence in a separate battery case.
A violent scene captured on courtroom video showed the 62-year-old judge falling from his chair toward a wall as Redden threw himself onto his bench and grabbed his hair, dropping an American flag on them. Holthus was injured but not hospitalized, court officials said.
Redden’s attorney, Carl Arnold, said his client was not taking prescription medication to control his schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
Arnold said in September when Redden entered his plea that it “reflects a delicate balance between accepting responsibility for the tragic event and recognizing the impact of Mr. Redden’s untreated mental illness at the time.”
The Associated Press sent an email Tuesday to Arnold’s spokesman seeking comment on Redden’s decision.
Redden said in court Tuesday that he did not want to kill Holthus, KLAS-TV reported.
“I am not making excuses for my actions, but I am saying that I am not a bad person and I know that I did not want to kill Mary Kay Holthus,” he said.
Redden will be eligible for parole sometime after 2050, KLAS-TV reported.