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At that time, Alfonso Morales, the lead detective in the homicide case against Ball, stood at the prosecution table and shot the defendant.

Good shootin' Detective Morales.

Usually these guys aren't aiming for a deputy--they're aiming for the Judge, prosecutor, sometimes their own lawyer...if Morales hadn't shot Ball, he would've tried to take out as many people as possible.

In my early days as a court reporter with the 1st Cavalry Division, we had just finished an aggravated child molestation/rape/sodomy case in which the accused had been convicted against his pleas of not guilty and sentenced to what I recall to be in excess of 30 years.

The courtroom (and my office) and the main legal office were in different buildings, but I could see the SJA office from my window. While in my office typing up the post-trial paperwork, I was looking out my window when suddenly I saw people una$$ing the building through the windows and the doors.

The accused's wife had returned to the area with her husband's gun, looking for anyone connected with the case, particularly the judge advocate prosecutor. From what I later found out from the MP's, it appears that, unknown to her, her husband had removed the firing pin from the .38 revolver sometime prior to this, but she came in the door screaming and pulling the trigger. Even though the gun never did fire, she just kept pulling the trigger ... click ... click ... click.

Probably not so funny if I had been in the building, but, watching it across the way from the courtroom and looking back at it across time, it sure was funny watching these "portly" JAG officers coming out of the windows.