A Las Vegas defendant who dove over a judge’s bench to attack her earlier this week blamed his assault on a “bad day” and refused to return to court to face the new charges against him.
Deobra Redden, 30, also told officers that the “judge has hit out for me” and is “evil” in a holding cell after his brazen attack on Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Hothus. He further apologized to officers that they “had to see that.”
Holthus was about to deny a request from Redden’s attorney for probation after his guilty plea to a charge of attempted battery with serious bodily harm when he suddenly lunged away from his attorney’s and over the bench, slamming the judge’s head into a wall and punching her, as CrimeOnline reported.
Holthus made her way underneath her desk while her marshal and law clerk scuffled with Redden to get him under control.
The marshal, identified as Shane Brandon, dislocated his shoulder and required 25 stitches for a gash on his face, KLAS reported. The law clerk, Michael Lasso had several cuts to his hand.
Holthus later described Redden to police as “big, strong, and angry.” She was initially treated at the justice center for her injuries but was later brought to a hospital for continued pain.
She returned to work on Thursday, the same day Redden refused to appear to face news charges of coercion with force or threat of force; extortion; intimidating public officers or others with the use of force; disregarding the safety of person or property; battery by prisoner, probationer, or parolee; unlaw act to excrete/fluid by a prisoner in a confined area; and battery on a protected person.
The excretion charge related to Redden allegedly spitting in a corrections officer’s face. Redden’s first appearance on those charges is now set for January 9. He is also scheduled to return to Holthus’s courtroom the day before for the interrupted sentencing.
Court documents show that Redden has three felony and nine misdemeanor convictions on his record, KLAS reported. He was previously sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison in 2021 on a domestic battery charge and was paroled in 2022.
He had appeared before Holthus once before — on a malicious destruction of property charge — when she did grant him probation. But on Wednesday, she was not inclined to go with probation.
“I appreciate that,” she told Redden’s attorney seconds before his attack, “but I think it’s time he get a taste of something else.”
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[Featured image: Mary Kay Holthus after the attack/KLAS screenshot]
