LOS ANGELES : Defendants Shackled in Response to Court Melee
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A courtroom drama continued Tuesday as one of two half-brothers declared he would not attend his murder trial Tuesday after court security officers put both in waist and leg chains.
The security measures followed a courtroom melee on Monday staged by defendants Albert Lewis and Richard Oliver Monday that left four people with minor injuries. In the fight, Lewis and Oliver attacked Lewis’ court-appointed attorneys.
As the trial resumed, Judge Jacqueline Conner refused Lewis’ request for new counsel and a mistrial. Oliver sat in a holding cell next to the courtroom but brought the proceedings to a halt by pounding on the walls. He wanted to see his attorney, he told a bailiff.
Oliver then decided to attend his trial despite the chains, but Lewis stayed away.
The men are accused of murdering two women at the Mt. Olive Church of God in Christ in 1989.
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