Court Security

Man shot to death in courthouse standoff with law enforcement was armed with toy airsoft gun

A 51-year-old man shot to death after a three-hour standoff with law enforcement outside a Florida courthouse last week was armed with a $15.99 airsoft pistol that shoots plastic BB pellets, the Brevard County sheriff says. Officers from his SWAT team and a Palm Bay negotiator who was at the…

Mar 5, 2014 9:10 PM CST

Loaded gun makes it past courthouse screener

No one, fortunately, was hurt. But a loaded semiautomatic handgun got past a security screener last month at an Ohio courthouse, resulting in ongoing repercussions. Authorities said the Toledo Municipal Court screener, initially inattentive, later spotted on the X-ray machine the image of the gun in a woman’s purse and…

Mar 3, 2014 11:53 PM CST

Gunman slain after standoff outside Florida courthouse; sheriff says he made previous threats

A Florida courthouse was locked down Friday and police converged on the grounds after a man was spotted holding a gun and carrying a bag in the turnaround area of the parking lot outside. At least eight law enforcement officers took shelter behind vehicles with their firearms trained on the…

Feb 28, 2014 7:50 PM CST

Grainy footage of US Supreme Court hearing is featured in protest video posted on YouTube

Cameras aren’t allowed in the U.S. Supreme Court. So a protest video posted Wednesday on YouTube is apparently the first online footage to show the public the nation’s top court at work, albeit in a limited, shaky and grainy manner, from the back of the courtroom, according to Reuters. The…

Feb 28, 2014 12:05 AM CST

Judge OKs injury suit by lawyer decked in court by death-row client

A Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer who says he is still trying to recuperate from being struck in the face by a handcuffed death-row client and knocked to the courtroom floor last May has gotten a green light to proceed with his personal injury suit against Blair County, its prison board…

Feb 27, 2014 5:30 PM CST

Courthouse tests face-recognition system to ID individuals thought to be threats

Angry litigants and criminal defendants can pose serious or even lethal threats to lawyers and judges. So it isn’t surprising that a group of retired police officers in St. Louis thought of the downtown Carnahan Courthouse when they developed a system to identify individuals considered to be threats through facial…

Feb 24, 2014 10:54 PM CST

Judge spots familiar face in court; man accused of threats to kill state and federal judges is held

Concerned about safety after he was told a convicted felon wanted for probation violation had threatened to kill him, a Minnesota judge pulled and studied the man’s mug shots and gave them to family members. So when Peter Okezie Kalu walked into the 13th-floor courtoom of Ramsey County District Judge…

Feb 12, 2014 6:50 PM CST

Firm’s surveillance video shows two men running away shortly before suspicious fire

Authorities are seeking the public’s help in identifying two persons of interest seen on a law firm surveillance video shortly before a suspicious fire occurred last month. The two men are seen carrying a bag that may contain a gas can, then running away without the bag a few minutes…

Feb 4, 2014 10:55 PM CST

Unhappy with $50 parking ticket, man rants on YouTube, is charged and jailed in lieu of $150K bond

Unhappy with what happened when he contested a $50 parking ticket issued by the city of Chicago, a suburban man posted an 11-minute rant on YouTube in which he urges viewers to blow up the building in which administrative hearings are held and attack hearing officers and parking meter enforcement…

Jan 31, 2014 4:12 PM CST

Were suspicious fires at law firm and prosecutor’s office related?

Authorities are investigating fires they say are suspicious that occurred within hours at a New Jersey law firm and prosecutor’s office late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Because it appears that there may be a connection between the blaze at the Vineland firm of Helmer, Conley & Kasselman and the flames…

Jan 29, 2014 11:40 PM CST

Gunman is convicted, based in part on video of shooting at courthouse plaza

Video of a 2012 shooting outside an Oklahoma courthouse has been released, following the conviction last week of the assailant, Andrew Dennehy. Used as evidence in the case, the grainy footage shows law enforcement reacting and shooting Dennehy as the barefoot man is moving around, armed and firing outside the…

Jan 28, 2014 6:30 PM CST

Ex-clerk known as ‘Judge Whitney’ takes plea in case over unauthorized access to court records

A former deputy court clerk has taken a plea in a criminal case over her claimed unauthorized access to Missouri court and law enforcement database records. Whitney Tyler, 28, pleaded guilty to some of the misdemeanor charges and no contest to others, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. If she successfully…

Jan 22, 2014 12:25 AM CST

Woman is charged in courthouse theft of lawyer’s briefcase

A lawyer whose briefcase was stolen at a Louisville, Ky., courthouse on Friday morning got it back after authorities identified a suspect on surveillance camera footage. They contacted the suspect, Melissa Lynn Eaton, 32, through a friend who had accompanied her to court. She later returned the briefcase and its…

Jan 13, 2014 10:40 PM CST

Inmate convicted in attempted murder-for-hire plot against federal judge

After less than an hour of deliberation, a federal jury in Fort Worth on Wednesday found a tax protester guilty of attempting to solicit the murder-for-hire of a federal judge in Texas. The defense said Phillip Monroe Ballard, 72, didn’t really intend to target District Judge John McBryde, who formerly…

Dec 11, 2013 10:55 PM CST

Facebook chat about ‘hit’ on judges adds to court problems for 2 defendants

Tipped that a Maryland man had tried to buy a rifle because he wanted to kill a judge, police didn’t have to look far to find supporting evidence. On a Facebook page, their suspect, Zachary Ryan Mitchell, and another man, Justin Ray Ferrell, complained about the Anne Arundel County judges…

Dec 3, 2013 10:45 PM CST