Judge pulls gun in Florida court

[lacoochee]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=upiUPI-20070327-013054-1623R&show_article=1
Judge pulls gun in Florida court
Mar 27 02:15 PM US/Eastern


JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 27 (UPI) -- A Jacksonville, Fla., judge drew his handgun when an accused child molester was attacked by an alleged victim's father in court.

"I didn't know if he was going after me or the bailiffs or the defendant," Circuit Judge John Merrett told The (Jacksonville, Fla.) Times-Union.

The father, who had not seen the defendant before the court appearance, hurdled a railing and landed several punches on the handcuffed and shackled man before bailiffs restored order.

Merrett said that once he saw the situation was under control, he handed his gun to the court clerk and asked her to lock it in a drawer. Merrett has a concealed weapon permit and said he'd do the same thing again, the newspaper reported.

But Duval County Public Defender Bill White said the incident was frightening. He plans to talk to the chief judge about whether judges should be armed in court.

"It's very disconcerting for a lawyer to be in the line of fire," White told the Times-Union.

The father was charged with felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery.

 

[Phaetos]

It's very disconcerting for a lawyer to be in the line of fire,"

Funny thing to hear a lawyer say I'm willing to bet there are a lot of people that don't entirely agree with that statement.

 

[Whatsit]

The father should have been given a medal.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Funny thing to hear a lawyer say

No kidding, I was gonna recommend just that......

Besides the humor, the whole thing sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

 

[DDrake]

Who cares about a lawyer.... Seriously, how many do we need. I bet most people in the USA would like to send all our lawyers (and most politicians) to Iraq with no weapons and no body army.


But on a serious note, judges need firearms.... it should be mandatory that they carry them because if there one person who is going to be targeted, its either the DA or the judge.

 

[jsdavenport]

If he is found guilty the judge should loan the weapon to the father of the child.

 

[The Law]

Judges need weapons if the bailiffs in Florida are anything like the ones in Nevada (morbidly obese old guys). Not very comforting when I have to be in court.

 

[Erebus]

But Duval County Public Defender Bill White said the incident was frightening. He plans to talk to the chief judge about whether judges should be armed in court.

After the Fulton County Superior Court shootings I am amazed it's still a point of contention. I'm sure Judge Rowland Barnes would agree they should be armed if he wasn't dead.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Judge seems like not the sharpest knife in the drawer:

"I didn't know if he was going after me or the bailiffs or the defendant," Circuit Judge John Merrett told The (Jacksonville, Fla.) Times-Union.

Really? it took you 3 guesses?

Merrett said that once he saw the situation was under control, he handed his gun to the court clerk and asked her to lock it in a drawer. Merrett has a concealed weapon permit and said he'd do the same thing again, the newspaper reported.

Why lock it up now? Make no sense at all. How are you going to "do the same thing again" if you just gave it away to be locked up in a drawer?

Funny thing to hear a lawyer say

Most of us are pretty funny.

 

[Tim James]

It's always funny to read about what people say or do with their guns when they're not a gun psy--I mean, enthusiast--like we have on this board. This stuff really just isn't common sense. People treat guns very strangely when they're not as involved with them as we are.

And as I commented elsewhere, the public defender is an idiot.

 

[1KPerDay]

The father should have been given a medal.

+1

 

[Liberal Gun Nut]

The father in this case assaulted an innocent man, in a court room no less. Now he will have his own trial.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

The father in this case assaulted an innocent man, in a court room no less. Now he will have his own trial.

Liberal Gun Nut is right on this one. Take it from soemone who just got a big dose of it myself (see my "Denied by NICS" thread). The man is innocent till proven guilty in a court of law and does not deserve a lynching. If he is found guilty Im with everyone else, by all means string him up. But he deserves his fair trial.

 

[TexasRifleman]

The father in this case assaulted an innocent man, in a court room no less. Now he will have his own trial.

Right or wrong that is in fact a 100% true statement.

 

[hagar]

Who was it that said to shoot the lawyers first? Shakespeare? He was a Smart man, for sure.

 

[scout26]

The man is innocent till proven guilty in a court of law and does not deserve a lynching. If he is found guilty Im with everyone else, by all means string him up. But he deserves his fair trial.

I forgot which movie this is from:

"Deputy, bring us some rope, we gonna have us a trial !!"

 

[cambeul41]

“Innocent until proven guilty”? NOT!

Guilt or innocence is totally independent of findings. Innocence and guilt are matters of fact. We re supposed to presume innocence, but once a deed is done, guilt or innocence is fact – no matter what we may think.

We don’t know whether the father attacked an innocent man or not.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

Deputy, bring us some rope, we gonna have us a trial !!"

Allright, thats funny !!

 

[Travis McGee]

If anybody in a court should be armed, it's the judge. Good for him! Should have just made a joke and reholstered it though.

 

[Hawkeye]

Judge Merrett is a personal friend of mine. I was his campaign manager for a few months last year for the first half of his election run. I have trained and shot with him on a regular basis. I will say this, there is more to the story than what the news media is reporting, and as usual, it has the typical media spin/twist to it. I have spoke with him. He did good.

 

[TrybalRage]

Wasn't there also a woman judge who was shot/killed a few years back? I'm surprised they aren't all armed.

 

[Outlaws]

Guilt or innocence is totally independent of findings. Innocence and guilt are matters of fact. We re supposed to presume innocence, but once a deed is done, guilt or innocence is fact – no matter what we may think.

We don’t know whether the father attacked an innocent man or not.

I am on board with harsher penalties for criminals, but that is after they are convicted. One day you might be innocent and on the receiving end of a lynch mob. They also won't care if you did it or not, they'll just want to see you hang.

 

[Wes Janson]

It is my understanding that very few judges actually do exercise their right to carry, unfortunately. Like most other groups of people, there will be some who are pro-gun, and some who aren't. Some will have the wisdom to carry, and some won't.

 

[Hawkeye]

For what its worth... its my understanding that the accused child molester in question was in the middle of pleading guilty to giving a 6 yr old girl gonorrhea while banging her.

 

[MattC]

Assuming Hawkeye's right, I hope the father asks for a jury trial and has the lawyer make sure those 12 know what jury nullification means.

Hawkeye, any idea why the judge had the gun locked away afterwards?

And to those bashing lawyers, I would encourage you to rethink your positions. There are a lot of good lawyers who have done some very good things, like protect the Bill of Rights and knock down some gun laws. Did we forget the DC ruling already? It took more than 3 judges and a plaintiff. Furthermore, there are some rather polite lawyers on this forum who deserve our respect rather than insults.