A Nevada man has been sentenced to decades behind bars for a courtroom outburst early this year that went viral on social media.
It all stemmed from 31-year-old Deobra Redden's sentencing hearing on Jan. 3 for an attempted battery charge. As Judge Mary Kay Holthus began announcing that he would be going to prison, Redden leapt over the judge's bench in an attempt to attack her. Courtroom security quickly intervened.
On Dec. 11, Redden was sentenced to between 26 and 65 years in prison for the courtroom attack, per NBC News. According to Las Vegas police, Redden told corrections officers that he had a bad day that day and tried to kill the judge. He ended up pleading guilty but mentally ill to attempted murder and five other charges related to the attack.
The plea deal, his attorney Carl Arnold said, "reflects a delicate balance between accepting responsibility for a regrettable incident and recognizing the impact of Mr. Redden’s untreated mental illness at the time." Redden has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and reportedly hadn't taken his prescribed medication to control it; he was serving prison time for other felony battery convictions when he pleaded guilty.
In his sentencing for the attack, Redden defended himself and said his actions don't reflect who he is.
"I’m not a bad person, I’m not an evil guy," he told the court, per KLAS. “I’m not making excuses for my actions, but I’m saying I’m not a bad person and I know that I did not intend to kill Mary Kay Holthus. I know I cared about her wellbeing."
