Man who jumped a desk to attack a Nevada judge in the courtroom is sentenced
LAS VEGAS– A man who was arrested video of a judge being attacked in a Las Vegas courtroom after jumping over her couch and desk has been sentenced to decades in prison.
Deobra Redden was sentenced Tuesday to 26 to 65 years in a Nevada prison for the attack on Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. reported.
Rooden, 31, pleaded guilty, but mentally ill in September on attempted murder and other charges, ending his trial shortly after Holthus testified that she feared for her life when Redden jumped over her 4-foot couch and landed on her.
The attack took place on January 3, as did Holthus about to deliver Redden’s sentence in a separate crime battery holder.
The violent scene was captured on courtroom video, which showed the 62-year-old judge falling back from her chair into a wall as Redden threw himself over her bench and grabbed her, causing an American flag to fall on them . Holthus suffered some injuries but was not hospitalized, court officials said.
Redden’s attorney Carl Arnold has said his client was not taking prescribed medications to control his diagnosed schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
Arnold said in September, when Redden entered his plea, that it “reflects a delicate balance between accepting responsibility for an unfortunate incident and recognizing the impact of Mr. Redden’s untreated mental illness at the time.”
The Associated Press sent an email to an Arnold spokesperson on Tuesday asking for comment on Redden’s sentence.
Redden said in court on Tuesday that he did not intend to kill Holthus, KLAS-TV reports.
“I am not making excuses for my actions, but I am saying that I am not a bad person and that I know I did not mean to kill Mary Kay Holthus,” he said.
Redden will be eligible for parole sometime after 2050, KLAS-TV reported.