Caught On Tape: Courtroom Brawl
Posted on 11/16/2006 9:58:55 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
TRUMBULL COUNTY, Ohio -- What would you do if you came face to face with a man charged with murdering a family member?
It was a thought put into action Wednesday in a Trumbull County courtroom as family members attacked a man charged with murdering several of their loved ones, NewsChannel5 reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsnet5.com ...
Caught On Tape: Courtroom Brawl
Two relatives attack a convicted killer in a Trumbull County courtroom.
Damn, not a mark on him.
I hope they got in a couple of real good shots to make the charges they'll be facing worth the trouble.
I can't honestly say that I blame these folks. The wheels of justice grind slowly, and sometimes justice isn't done.
Is there a jury anywhere that would convict them of anything?
Even CNN Headline News showed the clip.
Temporary insanity works for me as a defense. Some community service, some counseling, a $500 fine, 6 months probation....yeah, it might be worth it, actually.
Reminds me of the father who waited for the guy accused of raping his daughter at the New Orleans airport. When the accused walked past in handcuffs and cops on both sides, the father whipped out his pistol and blew the perp's brains out. Caught on tape but too gruesome for television.
My thought was "now THAT'S how you see to it the scum gets a fair trial!" One bullet. One verdict. No delays.
These two were amatuers by comparison.
That vid has got to be on the net somewhere.
I do not blame them at all. Our LEGAL system is too slow. You have to sit and listen while lawyers lie and spin tall tales. While they degrade your relative that was a victim. Then they get the death penalty and you wait 20 plus years while more lying agenda driven lawyers bring appeal after appeal purposely waiting years to bring some to futher drag out the process. They whole time eveyone forgets the victim and the horror of the murder. All in the so called name of Justice. Makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
Yes I remember that incident. I do not think the Father was punished at all or very much. I will have to look it up.
Here is a more detailed account in a Youngstown, OH newspaper. The person being hit has just been accused at this point:
http://www.vindy.com/content/local_regional/338054587885751.php
2 charged in melee at court hearing
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Jason Howard faces charges in killings in both Columbus and Warren.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN — Two relatives of a Warren woman and three children slain in Columbus have been charged with assault, after getting involved in a melee Wednesday in a Trumbull County courtroom over the man charged in the killings.
Sulthan Honzu, 29, of Ogden Avenue, the woman's cousin, and Lewis West, 30, of Arthur Drive, her brother, were charged with the misdemeanor after deputy sheriffs removed them from the court of Judge John M. Stuard. Both are to be arraigned this morning in municipal court here.
Jason T. Howard, 24, of Liberty, was charged in October in the deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Jameila West, 27; her 10-year-old daughter, Jameire Erwin, and 5-year-old son, Tre'vion Williams; and West and Howard's 3-year-old son, Jakia Howard. Columbus police found the bodies June 21.
Howard is also charged with murder and attempted murder and other charges in three shootings in Trumbull County, and was in court Wednesday to determine whether a statement he gave to police should be suppressed from a trial scheduled for Jan. 8 here.
What happened
As Howard sat at the defense table, members of West's family entered the courtroom. One was Victoria West of Warren, Jameila West's mother, who admits she did "pat" Howard on the back of the head as she entered. A deputy then grabbed her.
She said he put her on the floor and put his knee on her back. "It was me. I'm not gonna lie, but I didn't do anything to deserve that," she said.
Victoria West's sister, Mary Honzu of Warren, said she started to scream when she saw her sister on the floor, and that apparently caused her son, Sulthan Honzu, and Victoria West's son, Lewis West, to come into the room from the hallway.
The men came toward Howard and started attacking him. Deputy Phil Eckenrode was the only deputy in the courtroom when the melee began, but other deputies arrived within seconds.
Howard, shackled, moved a short distance away from the two sons during the attack. He appeared to receive a scratch on the neck but did not ask for medical attention.
The sons were taken to Trumbull County Jail.
Victoria West, who said she has a bad back, asked for an ambulance and was taken in one from the front of the courthouse.
Hearing reset
The hearing was rescheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in the jail, said Jim Lewis, the public defender representing Howard on the Trumbull County charges. Judge Stuard said the hearing will not be open to anyone who was involved in the disturbance.
Howard is accused in Trumbull County of the shooting death of Phillip Dally, 24, of Ohio Avenue, whose body was found in a vacant lot on Front Street in Warren on June 19. He also is charged with attempted murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping in the shooting of Mario Sowell, 30, of First Street, on June 18 and the wounding of Dontai Young, 26, of Lane Drive, on June 21.
Mary Honzu said she had come into the courtroom minutes before her sister and was told she could sit in the back. That's when Howard asked her, "'Let me ask you. Do you all think I did that?'"
Eckenrode told Howard to be quiet.
"I said, 'God knows what happened and he will take care of it,'" Honzu said she told Howard.
After that, the deputy asked Honzu to leave the courtroom. Minutes later the melee began, she said.
Howard earlier had said he did not commit the killings in Columbus.
"I'm not trying to convince nobody. I just want them to find out who did this. But they've already made up their mind. Everybody was blaming me. They was trying to blame me instead of looking for someone else," Howard said.
Asked why he thought he was accused, Howard said, "I don't know. I was the protector and provider for my family. I wasn't there to protect them. I wish I was."
After Howard was charged in the Columbus slayings, authorities said Howard would face a jury in Trumbull County before facing charges in Franklin County.
At the trial scheduled here for Jan. 8, Howard faces one count each of aggravated murder with a firearms specification, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, kidnapping with a firearms specification, attempted murder with a gun specification and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted on the charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
runyan@vindy.com
I don't blame the relatives at all. In that situation, I'd sure want to put my 2 licks in.
Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...
Did this happen in front of the jury? If it did you can bet the defense will argue for a mistrial claiming that the attack would prejudice them against the defendent.
I don't see any reference to a jury in the article above (post #15).
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