The Pen is Mightier than the Sword...

[Joe Guy]

but not the U.S. Marshall's pistol....

Man dies after being shot at federal courthouse
By ANNIE KNOX and BRADY McCOMBS, Associated Press
Updated 3:54 pm, Monday, April 21, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A defendant died after being shot by a U.S. marshal on Monday during an attack on a witness during a trial in a new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City, the FBI said.

Siale Angilau, 25, died at a hospital after he was shot in the chest as he rushed the witness with a pen in an "aggressive, threatening manner," the FBI said in a news release.

Angilau was shot several times in front of a jury that had been selected on Friday.

Angilau was one of 17 people named in a 29-count racketeering indictment filed in 2010 accusing "Tongan Crip" gang members of assault, conspiracy, robbery and weapons offenses.

Under standard procedures, Angilau was not restrained in the courtroom, the FBI said.

Perry Cardwell, who was in the courtroom with his adult daughter, said Angilau was shot several times as he lunged toward the witness stand.

At least six shots were fired, he said.

The witness, who was not injured, appeared to be in his mid-20s and was testifying about gang initiation, Cardwell said. The person was not identified.

Cardwell and his daughter were in court to support his mother, Sandra Keyser, who was punched in the face during a holdup in 2002 and was scheduled to testify.

"It was kind of traumatizing," Sara Jacobson, Cardwell's daughter, said of the shooting.

Prosecutors said Angilau robbed convenience stores and assaulted clerks in Salt Lake City on five occasions from 2002 to 2007. A clerk was shot in the final robbery, according to the indictment.

Angilau was accused of assault on a federal officer with a weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence on Aug. 11, 2007.

Angilau was the last defendant in the case to stand trial, U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said.

A mistrial was declared after the shooting. In her order, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell said members of the jury were visibly shaken and upset.

Angilau's attorney, Michael Langford, declined to take questions as he left the courthouse.

Angilau was in Utah state prison from September 2007 until he was handed over to U.S. marshals on Friday, said Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams.

He was arrested in August 2007 for a probation violation and pleaded guilty a year later to obstruction of justice and failure to respond to a command of a police officer, court records show.

His trial in the robbery case was among the first at the new $185 million federal courthouse opened just one week ago in downtown Salt Lake City next door to a century-old federal courthouse. The towering building is designed to withstand blasts and also contains bulletproof glass in some areas.

The security measures include separate routes in and out for judges, prisoners and the public. In the old courthouse, they all used the same hallways.

The courthouse was temporarily closed after the shooting and later reopened.

source

[Long Run]

Sounds like a ripped from the headlines episode. Based on this story, kudos are due to the marshal.

Tongan Crips were not part of the tour at the Polynesian Cultural Center, but I may have missed it.

[Sue U]

the Polynesian Cultural Center

Friends of mine refer to it as "the Mormon Museum of Conquered Peoples." I thought it was by far more entertainment than ethnology.

[RayThom]

I see it as "marshal shoots autograph seeker." This sounds like a case for Jose Baez.

[Lord Jim]

I found this bit from another article a little amusing:

The shooting occurred inside Judge Tena Campbell's court on the eighth floor during a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act trial involving the member of the Tongan Crip Gang.

After the shooting, Campbell was escorted out of the courtroom followed by the jury. Petersen said jurors waited in the jury room for several minutes before Campbell walked in and talked to them.

"She reassured us, made us feel a little bit better about what we saw. She said she had been serving for 19 years and had never seen anything like this happen. And she told us if we need any counseling, that will be offered for us," he said.

Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2956973 ... sLSbu2t.99

Gee, you've been on the bench for 19 years, and you've never had anyone shot dead in your courtroom before?

How lucky can you get...

[Crackpot]

Lucky? I thought that was one of the perks of the job!

[Sue U]

I'm in different courtrooms all the time and I hardly ever see anyone shot dead there.

[Guinevere]

In fact, I've never seen anyone really dead in a court room, except an occasional lawyer, and were they ever really alive to begin with?

[dgs49]

Will Gardiner?

[RayThom]

... by members of the Pagans MC. Eighteen months of off-and-on court testimony and at every hearing I felt they wanted to stab or shoot me. Sitting in the hallways with these thugs was a real treat for me. Most of those swell fellows were acquitted, however, two got jail terms of 9 months and 6 months. Hardly worth my effort.

On the advice of the police chief who "coached" me throughout the process I got my first carry permit a short time after... and have renewed it ever since. Hey, you never know...