The Ledger: Lakeland, Polk County, FloridaPublished Tuesday, December 3, 2002
Murder Defendant Barred After Bizarre Jail Behavior
By Jeff Scullin
The Ledger
jscullin@mindspring.com
BARTOW -- After Lance Sheffield smeared himself and a jail cell with his own feces before the start of his murder trial Monday, Polk Circuit Judge Charles Brown barred him from the courtroom, ruling that he had, effectively, waived his right to be present.
Brown said Sheffield, 21, was welcome in the courtroom whenever he was ready to behave himself.
Sheffield's actions, Brown said, were the latest in a series of antics aimed at delaying his trial.
He rejected the suggestion of Sheffield's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Mel McKinley, that Sheffield is mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Authorities have charged Sheffield in the April 2000 shooting death of Victor Hood, a 53-year-old Amtrak employee who died during a robbery attempt outside a Winter Haven bar.
Sheffield faces life in prison if convicted.
Friday, Brown denied Sheffield's request to dismiss the Public Defender's Office as his legal counsel.
The judge committed Sheffield to a state mental hospital in February after he defecated on a holding cell floor, threw feces at several bailiffs and corrections officers, spat on his attorney's lapel and yelled at an imaginary co-defendant.
In January, Sheffield's trial was delayed after he threw water on his attorneys and banged on the holding cell walls so loudly that it disturbed proceedings in nearby courtrooms.
Jury selection in Sheffield's trial is scheduled to continue today.
0 comments:
Post a Comment