So I just bore a kick in the head from a crazed defendant with three ibuprofen and the knowledge that most of my days are really boring.
Not Tuesday.
Probably the best take was from the Deseret News--pasted below. (For the record, the bailiff and I did secure the defendant. No "trying" here. I'm a "do or do not" kind of guy).
Other links:
Standard Examanier: http://www.standard.net/
KSL: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&
SL Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_
Anyway, here's the story. And you thought lawyers were boring.
Clearfield man, Scott Kirby Paterson goes after victim in court after child sex abuse conviction
BOUNTIFUL — Minutes after a jury found him guilty Tuesday of sexually abusing a child, authorities say a Clearfield man jumped into the courtroom gallery and went after his 12-year-old victim and her family.
"He went right to them," said 2nd District Court clerk Vicki Leo. "It was extremely scary. I've been a court clerk for 20-something years, and it's nothing like I've ever seen before."
Scott Kirby Patterson, 50, was convicted Tuesday of two counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and two counts of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor. The verdict was handed down after a two-day jury trial.
"As the verdict was being read, I observed the defendant, Scott Kirby Patterson, turn his head to his right and stare toward the victim and her family on the front row," Davis County sheriff's deputy Dave Grondel wrote in an incident report obtained by the Deseret News. "This lasted for approximately 10 seconds, then the defendant looked forward."
The deputy said he was then asked by 2nd District Judge Thomas L. Kay to take Patterson into custody, pending sentencing. Grondel said as he approached Patterson, the man stood, flipped over his chair and charged him.
"I took a step backwards and was attempting to unholster my Taser," the deputy wrote. "The defendant then proceeded toward the front-row area and was attempting to get to the victim and her mother and the rest of her family members."
The victim's uncle and her brother-in-law stood up and grabbed Patterson's arms to stop the attack, according to Grondel's report. The deputy and a law clerk then tried to gain control of Patterson, "but he was actively resisting arrest," the report states.
A second deputy entered the courtroom, and Patterson was taken into custody.
"The little girl and her mom were clearly shaken up," said Rick Westmoreland, the deputy Davis County attorney who prosecuted Patterson.
The victim in the case was 10-year-old when Patterson sexually abused her, Westmoreland said, noting that Patterson held a position of special trust with the girl.
The prosecutor said the girl and her family are grateful now that Patterson must serve mandatory prison time as a result of the jury's verdict, "so they won't have to deal with that kind of anger and rage for a lot of years."
The sheriff's office is reviewing Tuesday's incident and may ask prosecutors to file additional charges against Patterson.
Patterson is being held in the Davis County Jail. He faces a mandatory term of six, 10 or 15 years to life in prison on each of the aggravated sex abuse charges and up to a year in jail on each of the lewdness charges when he is sentenced March 18.
