A St. Joseph County Jail inmate attending a hearing for a criminal misdemeanor faces additional charges after prosecutors say he harmed a public defender.
Edward Ray Randolph, 49, was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail on June 12 and remains in custody, according to public jail logs, after a June 13 incident in the jail courtroom.
During a hearing for inmates around 1:30 p.m. June 13 with Magistrate Elizabeth Hardtke —who presided at the St. Joseph County courthouse — Randolph, who was waiting for the hearing of his case, stood up from his seat and charged at Deputy Public Defender Neil Weisman, a St. Joseph County prosecutor said in a probable cause affidavit.
Randolph hit Weisman in the face, threatened to kill the public defender, pushed his torso down and forced his head into a plastic chair along the wall, prosecutors said.
Three officers helped Weisman get away, said the prosecutor, adding that Randolph physically struggled with officers and was tased before officers secured him in handcuffs. Randolph tried to kick two officers as they escorted him out of the jail courtroom, the prosecutor’s office said.
Weisman, who the prosecutor noted had a red mark on his face, was treated by the jail nurse.
Following this incident, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s office charged Randolph with two felonies, including a level six felony of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and a level six felony of intimidation. Randolph was also charged with a class A misdemeanor of battery resulting in a bodily injury and a class A misdemeanor of resisting law enforcement.
Randolph was previously convicted in St. Joseph County with a class B misdemeanor for leaving the scene of an accident, a class B misdemeanor for dealing in methamphetamine and a class D felony of theft in Marshall County.
Randolph’s next court date is June 17.
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joseph County Jail inmate accused of attacking public defender during hearing
Reporting by Camille Sarabia, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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