Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Disorder in the court

Defendant Richard Glawson punched a juror on May 18 in Suffolk Superior Court, resulting in a mistrial. The 46-year-old -- who was arrested after a crime spree in 2001 that included "carjackings, break-ins and shooting a Dedham police officer in the hand," according to Boston.com -- topped the ludicrous behavior of his first trial by threatening today to kill the entire jury in his second trial.

The state's Supreme Judicial Court forced Judge Patrick Brady to poll jurors regarding their objectivity after the incident in the first trial, and several of them understandably admitted to being affected. Hence, the mistrial. What now? Members of this jury must certainly be influenced by Glawson's threat. Judge Brady continued with testimony today after the outburst, but it will be interesting to see if another mistrial is declared or if everyone decides that Glawson should get what he deserves.

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