We’ve all had bad days — days when it seems Murphy is hammering on your last nerve with his maddening “Law” and nothing goes your way.
Few of us, however, would throw ourselves at a district judge while shouting, “f*ck that b*tch!”
But that, evidently, is what 30-year-old three-time felon Deobra Redden was having when he hurled himself at Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus in Las Vegas and knocked her off her seat — a “bad day.”
Defendant LEAPS over bench to viciously assault female judge in WILDEST courtroom video! https://t.co/OR2N3FYeDa via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) January 4, 2024
Judge Holthus was about to sentence Redden on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm. Holthus had denied Redden’s probation request. Citing Redden’s violent past and long rap sheet, Holthus was sentencing the felon to jail time.
“I think it’s time he got a taste of something else because I just can’t with that history,” she said.
That’s when Redden lost it and leaped over the bench.
It took a bunch of court and law enforcement officers several minutes to pull the convict out of the courtroom.
Holthus’s attacker allegedly slammed her head against a wall during the brutal attack and the judge’s marshal, Shane Brandon, received 25 stitches for the gash on his face and suffered a dislocated shoulder, according to 8 News Now.
The outlet reviewed court documents from the wild event, which revealed the brutality of the attack.
Redden allegedly yanked hair out of Holthus’s head and struck her once in the head in addition to smacking her head against the wall. Judge Holthus managed to hide under her desk “balled up covering her face,” the documents said.
After being treated in the justice center by medical personnel, continued pain later forced a family member to take Holthus to the hospital.
“Redden also hit and punched a corrections officer who was present in the courtroom, documents said. Holthus’ law clerk, Michael Lasso, was cut several times on his hand in the melee,” 8 News Now reports. “Photos showed a bloody scene, with blood on Holthus’ bench and on documents scattered in the area.”
“It was just a total chaotic commotion,” witness Daniel Martin told 8 News Now Investigators. “Honestly, I was super surprised like I’ve never seen anything like that in my whole life, that looked like something out of the NFL or something like that.”
Holthus described Redden “as being ‘big, strong and angry” police said, and Martin wanted to help her during the attack. It was his public defender, he said, that advised him to stay back.
“I was in conflict,” Martin said, “’cause as a natural man you want to protect a woman.”
Once he was finally subdued, Redden was thrown into a holding cell near the courthouse. While there, he reportedly told an officer, “Judge has it out for me,” according to the court documents.
Another officer said Redden asked him if what he did was wrong.
“Judge is evil,” Redden reportedly said. “I’m sorry you guys had to see that.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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