Posted on 03/14/2005 2:30:14 PM PST by stan_sipple
The deputy, a 51-year-old woman just 5 feet tall, was simply no match for the inmate she was escorting to the courtroom, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound former college linebacker on trial for rape. Authorities say Brian Nichols overpowered deputy Cynthia Hall, took her gun, and easily gained access to the courtroom, where he went on to kill the judge and a court reporter. Security cameras captured images of him overpowering the deputy, but no one, it turned out, was watching the screens.
There were more security gaffes.
Prosecutors actually had asked for increased security surrounding Nichols last week after he was found with the homemade knives -
Authorities have said Nichols was not in handcuffs or shackles as he was being moved to the courtroom because they did not want to taint the jury by showing him in restraints.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that people on trial can be shackled in front of the jury, but only if prosecutors have a strong argument for it. Prosecutors could very well have won that argument in Nichols' case because of the knives.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Security cameras captured images of him overpowering the deputy, but no one, it turned out, was watching the screens.
It’s like he was a guest on the Jane Pauley show!
or Air America or PHil Donohue
NO doubt Fulton County Georgia would have faced a Title VII suit if it had required male deputies to escort the defendant to the court room
Did you read the article you posted? The Supreme Court has allowed for shackles and other security measures, but the sheriff's office simply did nothing.
the Defendant's public offender probably would have won a mistrial/new trial motion if the court had shackled him
SO9
this is definitely not the first time a criminal overpowered a female guard in a court house.
I hope some of the mountain dew I just spewed all over my monitor got on you.
The City of Atlanta and Fulton County exhibited a level of incompetency that would put a city of 4,000 to shame. Had this been about some hiring requirement there would be only one injured deputy today.
Sources, please?
Bo Dietel was all over Fox News this weekend talking about not only the lax security proceedures, but the inept Atlanta cops that missed finding the "getaway car" for over 18 hours.
Moral of the story: If you're going to do a crime, do it in Atlanta.
Nope, but a guy this big might have taken out 2 male guards if he was amped up on drugs. A prisoner who is not shackled hand and foot needs to be in a stun belt or be covered by a guard at a distance with a shotgun.
So9
Happened here in Lincoln Nebraska approximately 1991, Def going in for setencing distracted female courthouse guard, def's relative or friend over powered her and grabbed her weapon
Isn't this sweet? Political correctness trumps public safety.
Perhaps, but I don't see that as an issue. The 51 year old grandma could just as easily have been a 60 year old grandpa, and not much bigger or stronger than granny.
The real problem was procedures that are standard in other courthouses and jails that were not followed here. The person actually in contact with the prisoner is not to be armed (she may not have been, I heard an interview this morning which said her gun was locked in a "lock box" where the deputies put their firearms when handling prisoners, but after he overpowered her, he of course got the key). The unarmed "handler" generally has an armed backup, or more than one, who stay outside the reach of the prisoner. Best procedure would have been to have granny be the backup, and have deputy Big Bubba be the "handler", but the other way around probably would have been OK as well.
And the full story, now that I've read it, confirms this
Thanks.
Proper procedure would have put the suspect alone in a locked cell before his handcuffs were removed. He then would have been allowed to change clothes, and the handcuffs secured again before the cell was unlocked.
Rush Limbaugh mentioned today that after the fiasco with the 5'lady who was left alone with Brian Nichols while he changed clothes, that he was escorted from the apartment complex after he surrendered by another woman. I also noticed this person on TV, but couldn't figure out if the person was a tall, slim man with longish blonde hair, or an actual woman. The picture was not very clear. If it was a woman, there were many men surrounding her and Nichols.
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