Tarrant County, TX Courtroom Rage!

[TexasStooge]

Verdict sent defendant into rage

FORT WORTH, Texas (Wire/WFAA ABC 8) – A defendant flew into a rage in a Fort Worth courtroom and bit a bailiff after a judge announced he had been found guilty of two counts of indecency with a child Wednesday, witnesses said.

"He bit the hell out of that officer," prosecutor Robert Foran, who found himself in the middle of the melee, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Before biting the bailiff, 28-year-old Lonnie Bee Howard threw a water pitcher across the courtroom.

"We think he was trying to hit the victim's family," said Terry Grisham of the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.

Howard then lunged at the family, biting the face of one of the bailiffs who tried to restrain him.

Howard, who could be sentenced to life in prison for the indecency conviction, now faces two assault charges, including one on a peace officer, Grisham said. He was in Tarrant County Jail on Wednesday night.

Howard's mother, who was arrested for taking part in the melee, was hospitalized for chest pains. Veronica Howard, 58, is under arrest and faces possible assault charges, Grisham said.

"She had to be restrained in leg irons and handcuffs – after the fight and on the ride to the hospital," Grisham said.

The bailiff, whose name was not released, was also taken to a hospital.

Jurors in state District Judge Elizabeth Berry's court deliberated about 50 minutes before finding Lonnie Howard guilty of fondling his former girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter, witnesses said.