Murder Defendant Head-Butts Counsel in Apparent Bid for New Trial

Unhappy with his counsel's legal strategy in a first-degree murder trial in Washington state, the defendant apparently decided to seek a mistrial using his own tactics.

Shortly after attorney Adolfo Banda told the judge in the Yakima County Superior Court case this morning that his client was unhappy with his approach, defendant Eriberto Gonzalez head-butted his counsel, reports the Yakima Herald-Republic. He was quickly restrained by courtroom security officers.

After Banda departed the courtroom to get stitches for a cut near his eye that was bleeding heavily, Gonzalez urged the judge to declare a mistrial, although the jury was not in the courtroom at the time of the incident. The newspaper article doesn't say whether Judge Michael Schwab ruled on the issue.