Courtroom deputies use Taser to subdue defendant

By BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle


Moments after being convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a Houston man was Tasered into submission today as he tried to go over the court railing to hug his mother.

"He said, 'I want to hug my mother, I want to hug my mother,'" said Don Becker the attorney for Joe Nathan Sanders Jr.

Sanders,33, was convicted this afternoon of killing his ex-girlfriend's sister, Angela Alex, who was pregnant with his child, Becker said.

After the verdict was read and the sentence was imposed, Sanders snapped his head up and began shaking it, "No."

Sanders' mother, behind the court railing, started crying and screaming and Sanders started walking toward her, Becker said.

As he tried to go over the rail, at least six bailiffs of the 13 in the courtroom piled on top of him and finally had to shock him with a Taser twice to keep him from going over, Becker said. Court records show that Sanders is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 250 pounds.

"Afterward, he said he was sorry," Becker said. "He was just in a state of shock that he had been convicted."

Prosecutor Sunni Mitchell said she was watching the jurors walk out of the room when the commotion started. She said Sanders had nearly a dozen supporters in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

State District Judge Jeannine Barr praised the bailiffs and the Sheriff's Office's emergency response team, a group of deputies who provide extra security at the courthouse. They had been summoned to the courtroom for the reading of the verdict.

"It's a good thing that they had those Tasers," Barr said. She said Sanders had remained very calm through the trial.

Thanks for posting that electrifying story!

Shocking!

Is he going to be "charged" with any other crimes due to this incident?

Sombody take a taser to the punsters, please.