A dramatic courtroom assault in Las Vegas in which saw a defendant vault over the judge’s bench and tackle her, has resulted in decades behind bars for the assailant.
Deobra Redden was sentenced on Tuesday to between 26 and 65 years in prison for his attack on Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported.
“I’m not an evil guy,” Redden told the court, adding that he had no intention of killing Holthus. He also recalled hearing voices at the time, but said he still “cared about” the judge’s “well-being,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Holthus, however, pushed back on Redden’s claims with a statement of her own.
“He made a conscious decision to kill me and made every effort to succeed,” she said.
The violent incident, video of which quickly went viral online, occurred on Jan. 3 just as Holthus was about to deliver Redden’s sentence in a separate felony battery case. It sees Redden do what prosecutors called a “Superman’-style” leap over the judge’s bench, knocking her against the wall and pulling her hair as a flag falls on top them.
Several other people, including Holthus’ courtroom marshal and her law clerk, leapt into action and fought with Redden before getting him to the ground.
Holthus suffered some injuries but was not hospitalized, courthouse officials said.
Redden was meanwhile charged with attempted murder and several other counts in connection with the attack, to which he pleaded pleaded guilty but mentally ill back in September. His attorney, Carl Arnold has said his client was not taking his prescribed medication to control his diagnosed schizophrenia at the time.
With News Wire Services
