"This behavior is absolutely unacceptable," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley railed yesterday about Glawson's alleged juror jab. "We will present the matter to the grand jury this week for possible indictment on juror intimidation charges."
Sources said Glawson had to be pulled off the man, who appeared dazed but not seriously injured.
Chaos in Massachusetts courts, where the officers are unarmed, is becoming almost as common as jury duty. Court officers had to break up a fight between relatives of a murdered Braintree mother and a Dorchester man who allegedly violated her restraining order in Quincy District Court on Friday.
In February, accused rapist Che Sosa allegedly stabbed his own lawyer with a homemade knife in Dedham Superior Court and had to have a SWAT team assigned to him at subsequent appearances.
A year ago, John Gomes jumped his lawyer in a Suffolk Superior courtroom and had to be pried off his throat by officers.
"There's no question the level of violence in Massachusetts courtrooms has been escalating," said David Frank, a former prosecutor who works for Lawyers Weekly. "Things have taken a turn for the worst in the last 12 months."
Glawson, 46, a former contractor, is on trial for a bizarre two-day crimespree in 2001, during which, Conley's office charges, he robbed a Roxbury home, started a shootout at the Chestnut Hill Mall, carjacked a woman, broke into a home, shot a disabled man's dog, carjacked two more vehicles and shot a Dedham cop in the hand.
Sources told the Herald the 16 jurors seated for Glawson's 2-day-old trial in Suffolk Superior Judge Patrick F. Brady's courtroom were just beginning to file past the defendant at the close of testimony Friday afternoon when Glawson inexplicably lashed out "a glancing blow" to one, knocking him to the ground.
Because of Glawson's violent history, including having flipped over a table in court, prosecutor Rahsaan Hall wanted him kept under lock and key throughout the trial, but Brady said no.
Citing judicial canons that prevent him from speaking about an ongoing case before him, Brady yesterday declined to comment on the courtroom calamity.
Glawson's defense attorney, Joseph Griffin Jr., could not be reached.
State Jury Commissioner Pamela Wood said she has not noticed any trends emerging regarding juror abuse in the courtroom.
"These things do happen, rarely. Thankfully, very, very rarely," Wood said. But Frank sees the rise in overall court violence attributable to defendants who want to get the media attention they perversely crave.
"It's embarrassing and it's shameful," said attorney and victims rights advocate Wendy Murphy, of courtroom violence. "There's very little courtroom safety aside from screening entrants." Murphy said the judicial system could do a better job creating "an atmosphere that reflects safety" to prevent courtroom assaults. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Case continues despite attack: Judge refuses to let courtroom chaos end in mistrial
By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Updated: 12:41 PM EST
A tough-as-nails judge yesterday sent a message to courtroom clowns seeking to disrupt their trials, denying a defendant who cold-cocked a juror a mistrial and instead ordering him chained to the floor.
"It is becoming increasingly common for violent" offenders to try to "derail" their trials by creating chaos, said Suffolk Superior Court Judge Patrick F. Brady. But accused cop shooter Richard Glawson, 46, would not prevail as a martyr of mayhem.
Though "they saw everything that transpired" Friday when Glawson laid out a male juror as the others tried to run or were trapped trembling and weeping, Brady refused to release the remaining panelists or question them as to whether they could still decide the case without prejudice.
"The court can only do so much to provide a fair trial" to a defendant who does something "as extreme as attacking a juror in open court," Brady said. "To me, the central issue is whether the court should allow a defendant to get away with manipulative behavior."
Glawson, his hands chained to his waist and leg irons fastened to the floor, tried telling Brady that "voices" in his head commanded him to throw the punch.
Brady saved his sympathy for the juror: a thin, softspoken gray-haired man who confessed yesterday to feeling "nervous" in Glawson's presence. The man, whose identity Brady impounded, was dismissed from duty after judge and juror shook hands.
"I'm very, very sorry it happened," Brady told him.
Brady has assigned two court officers to stand on either side of Glawson for the remainder of his trial. Glawson, who Brady would not allow to be photographed, faces multiple charges in connection with a two-day crime spree in 2001 that culminated with him allegedly shooting and wounding a Dedham police sergeant.
Among recent examples of disorder in the court he cited, Brady recalled one year ago witnessing a murder defendant pounce on his attorney and try to choke him.
By not declaring a mistrial, Glawson's defense attorney, Joseph Griffin Jr., told Brady he was risking "a miscarriage of justice" because no matter how he tried to make the jury feel safe, given what they saw, "I don't think there are any instructions the court can give that's going to cleanse that."
But one fed-up court officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, was glad to see Brady draw a line in the sand.
"It's getting worse and worse," the officer said, blaming latter-day generations who've been raised with no respect for the law.
"I think the commonwealth has been lucky. Until someone gets hurt very seriously, things aren't going to change. And it won't be a court officer getting hurt. It'll take a judge or a district attorney."
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Mistrial declared in chaos case
By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - Updated: 12:40 PM EST
After refusing to derail proceedings one day earlier, a Suffolk Superior Court judge unexpectedly declared a mistrial today in the case of an accused cop shooter who punched out a juror.
Judge Patrick F. Brady was asked to question jurors in the case today and several said they could not remain partial. The questioning was ordered by the state Supreme Judicial Court following an appeal [an emergency petition] by the defendant's attorney.
On Friday, Richard Glawson, 46, laid out a male juror as the others tried to run or were trapped trembling and weeping.
Yesterday, the judge ordered Glawson's hands chained to his waist and leg irons fastened to the floor.
The one juror who was assaulted was dismissed and the trial commenced. After today's mistrial, it will have to start all over again.
Glawson faces multiple charges in connection with a two-day crime spree in 2001 that culminated with him allegedly shooting and wounding a Dedham police sergeant.
Glawson's attorney, Joseph Griffin Jr., filed an emergency petition with the SJC asking it to intervene.
