Man Attacks Judge in Vegas Courtroom

UPDATE Jan 8, 2024 12:00 PM CST

The judge attacked by a defendant in a Las Vegas courtroom last week sentenced the man Monday to up to four years in prison in an unrelated case. Deobra Delone Redden leapt over the bench and attacked Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus in her courtroom last week after trying to convince the judge he was turning around his violent past. The sentence of 19 months to 48 months handed down Monday was in connection with a baseball bat attack on a person last year, the AP reports. Redden stood in court in shackles with a mask on his face and orange mitts on his hands, flanked by a group of jail officers. He faces 13 other charges in connection with the attack on the judge and court officers who came to her assistance, reports USA Today.

Jan 4, 2024 7:44 AM CST

A defendant in Las Vegas who was unhappy about being sent to jail is facing multiple new felony charges for attacking a judge. Video from the Clark County District Court shows 30-year-old Deobra Redden throwing himself over the bench and attacking Judge Mary Kay Holthus on Wednesday morning after she rejected his attorney's request to sentence him to probation, Fox News reports. He was seen throwing punches as court officers and attorneys wrestled him to the floor. Courthouse officials said the 62-year-old judge was injured but was not hospitalized, reports the AP. A courtroom marshal who came to the judge's aid was hospitalized with injuries including a dislocated shoulder and a bleeding gash in his forehead.

Redden was not in custody when he arrived at the court Wednesday and asked the judge for leniency, describing himself as "a person who never stops trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is," per the AP. He charged at the judge as a court marshal moved to handcuff him. A court spokesperson said officials are "reviewing all our protocols and will do whatever is necessary to protect the judiciary, the public, and our employees."

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The attack came after Redden pleaded guilty to attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, the New York Times reports. In response to the request for probation, Holthus said, "I just can't with that history," an apparent reference to Redden's criminal record. Court records show that Redden was sentenced to 19 months in prison for theft in 2015 and served time for domestic battery in 2021, per the Times. After the Wednesday attack, he faces new charges including battery on a protected person resulting in substantial harm. (More Nevada stories.)