Man on trial in bail-jumping case exits courtroom as lawyers talk with judge in chambers
Free on bond in a gun-possession and bail-jumping case, a 29-year-old New Orleans man was in court there Thursday for a jury trial.
But at some point during an in-chambers conference between the lawyers and the judge in the case, Harry Riggins walked out of the courtroom past a bailiff and several New Orleans police officers who were present as witnesses for the trial, according to the New Orleans Advocate and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
When the judge and the lawyers returned to the courtroom, there was no sign of Riggins. During a search of the Orleans Parish criminal courthouse he was nowhere to be found.
Judge Byron Williams issued a bench warrant and continued the trial until next week. He asked the jury to come back on Wednesday, without explaining the reason for the delay, and offered lunch, which had already been ordered, to jurors who wanted it, the Advocate reports. A few decided to stay for the free meal.
Defense lawyer John Fuller said he believes his client may have left due to a family emergency rather than out of an intention to avoid the trial.
“He came to court yesterday and was actually there today,” Fuller told the Advocate. “That’s why I think some type of emergency occurred.”
The prosecution is appealing the judge’s decision not to go ahead and hold the trial despite Riggins’ absence.
