Man killed after attacking judge in Stockton court

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A man on trial for killing his girlfriend was shot to death inside a Stockton courtroom Wednesday afternoon, after he attacked the judge presiding over his murder trial.

David Paradiso was fatally shot after he left the stand and began attacking San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox during a break in proceedings, said Karen McConnell, a county spokeswoman.

McConnell said Paradiso had been testifying at about 2 p.m. when his mother, in the audience, left the courtroom upset. Fox called a recess, and as jurors filed out, Paradiso left the stand and approached the judge from behind, she said.

Witnesses reported seeing Paradiso lift the judge and begin punching and possibly stabbing her when bailiffs ran to her aid and shots rang out.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/03/04/state/n155948S25.DTL&tsp=1

nt

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and did i forget the freeper approval of Death By Cop as opposed to judicial prosecution?

enjoy your stay

They could have used pepper spray or hit him with a lamp or something. He didn't have to be shot and killed. He could have turned out to be a valuable member of society after he got over this rough spot.










j/k

I espeically like the lamp bit. Think I'll carry one around with me from now on.

:eyes:

It's what he should have gotten anyway.

It's only the truth. The guy was a murdering dog and he tried to kill the judge too. He got what he deserved. It's better this way. No wasted time on the trial and endless appeals and no money wasted keeping this parasite fed, clothed and housed. Everyone wins.

transpired, I cannot fully give an opinion based on the facts, just like no one else here can, however, I think they could have attempted to shoot him in the side or yank him off if possible - the bailiff is not the decider of life/death, and yet, he/she was in this case.

I don't know how much restraint could have been shown. Have you ever been in a violent situation? There's no time to think about whether you should shoot the guy in the leg, you just shoot center mass. I don't believe the bailiff was playing god, he was trying to save the judge. Ultimately, the guy who got shot is the one who made this happen, he killed himself.

the decision sometimes has to be made when taking a life to save another, thankfully most times its the right decision.

his position, it's hard to discount his actions. It was a horrible situation, and he had to protect the judge. I'm hoping it was only a shooting caused by no alternative, even if others, like yourself, feel it saves money, I still believe in not showing equal malice to criminals, but if death is to be sentenced, I want a judge to decide it, however, it very well may be, the judge was saying, 'shoot the bastard!'

That's how it usually goes with those type of shootings. The money saving part is just a by-product.

if money saving is what you're going for, you want him dead. but it's still an honest question. This guy might have been better served with a taser.

but if the court bailiff believed that the perp was using deadly force he then matches that to save the judges life. the Taser is a superb piece of equipment but everybody who uses it daily will have at least a couple of people who it did not stop, and in a life or death situation then mr smith and mr wesson are your best options.

A taser may have been effective here. Maybe not. Depending on the level of rage the guy had. And then if he died from the taser, people would complain about that too. They should have just wrestled him down or whatever would be the refrain. This dude got what he was asking for.

would emigrate. The Constitution of the United States IS this country.

I'm just glad this fool saved everyone the time and trouble of the process. The judge is probably happy about it as well.

The defendant was bragging about killing his girlfriend (you did read the article, right?), and then pulled a knife on a judge in a crowded courtroom. I'm not seeing any reason for all the reflexive outrage here.

for killing of the girlfriend. If that is not what the poster meant, I apologize to the original poster.

For the record, the story does not reflect bragging about killing the girlfriend. He said only "she deserved it." That could mean anything, including that he had killed in self defense. In hindsight, I doubt it, but he still had a right to presumption of innocence and a trial.

Not everyone who claims to have killed someone did kill. Or, he could have been entitled to an insanity defense. Because of how things turned out, we don't know what the defense as to the girlfriend might have been. And we certainly don't know if this guy would have qualiried for the death penalty, even if convicted.

As far as the judge, I have less than zero problem with shooting the prisoner in that case. If present, I would have attacked him myself. It was only being entitled to a trial for killing the gf that I was addressing.

Btw, making a statement with which you do not agree does not equate to being "outraged." Being in that courtroom probably would have "outraged" me. Reading a post, not so much.

They could have just grab him off the judge.

If you think the guy's got a knife, you probably don't want to tackle him...

you don't want the bailiff to try to run up closer to see if he's stabbing her or just punching her in the kidneys.

we of course do not have all the facts, I understand that, but aren't they trained to shoot in the lower part of the body. I guess we won't fully know what happened, but it seems like a strong response to shoot him in what appears to be the chest or head, and kill him. Because, if he was hit elsewhere, and this being a courthouse, one would take it that an EMT, nurse or doctor was not too far away.

Cops are trained to do one thing and that is to shoot to kill, anytime a cop fires his weapon he is trying to kill whatever he is aiming at, whether its a perp with a gun, an EDP with a knife or a deer on the highway.

they're trained to shoot the center of the target, or, "center of mass", that doesn't mean they're trying to kill. maybe you're being sarcastic and saying cops are typically ruthless and want to kill, but regardless, I know cops are not trained to kill with every shot, there are times they want to kill, but it's not the intent 100%, just to make sure they hit the target.

i dont have time to worry if the one round ive fired center mass is enough thats why we train to put multiple rounds into a target. If i pull my weapon then i must be prepared to kill you, this is a basic tennet of all shooting, and if i fire my weapon at you then you can be sure i am trying to kill you and this was drummed into everyone who attends a police academy.

I appreciate you speaking your history on this. You mention Academy, but I've spoken to people who've went through Academy then go onto to real training where they're told to forget everything they learned in Academy when they went into recruit training. Were you an officer? I just hear 'center mass' often, and people say they're not trying to kill people when they shoot, just stop them, and you're telling me you want to kill them if you pull the trigger. Thanks.

there is nothing that can prepare you for when you have to pull the trigger for real, as i said we are technically trying to stop the aggressive action, but in all essence this boils down to im putting enough lead into you that you are going to have to stop what you are doing, cops are also taught to perform contact shots in extreme ccircumstances, though i can only speak for the academy i went through.

:eyes:

dealing with someone on a murderous rampage is not a safe thing to do, in this case the bailiff probuably save the judges life.

the average person who would want to sit on the board, is either someone with a grudge against law enforcement, someone who watches too much CSI and Law and Order, or the worst kind someone who has no idea or never had any contact with crime or the police. Luckily i no longer have to deal with the citizen review board and i no longer have to explain why i did something to someone who didnt listen , understand or care.

:shrug:

judge's life. From the video I saw on local TV, the attorney spoke to the media outside the courthouse, giving his account of what happened.

Glad that judge is safe and major kudos to Detective Bradley and the bailiffs.