Judge Tasered in His Own Courtroom

A Texas judge was attacked in his courtroom Tuesday morning during a hearing for what the Houston Chronicle calls "a relatively low-level, non-violent crime" involving alleged false statements on financial paperwork and fraud. But Joseph Catarineau started arguing with Judge Danny Lacayo when the judge asked if Catarineau wanted to hire a lawyer because his had requested to be taken off the case, KHOU reports. Then Lacayo ordered Catarineau held without bail, and the defendant allegedly attacked the bailiff who was supposed to lead him away. That's when Lacayo got off the bench to help. "He was just whaling on her," Lacayo recalls. A witness says Catarineau pulled the deputy to the ground by her ponytail and started punching her.

A prosecutor also tried to help, and then the deputy who was being attacked pulled out her Taser. Catarineau allegedly managed to knock it from her hand and then start punching the judge and prosecutor, who were eventually able to subdue him. But as the deputy Tased him, the charge from her stungun ended up shocking the prosecutor and the judge, too, the prosecutor says. "The bottom line is that I’m not going to let a deputy get beat up in front of me," says Lacayo, who was also attacked in a courtroom back in 2018 when he was a public defender. Catarineau is now expected to face additional charges. (More Texas stories.)