FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A defense attorney was taken to a hospital Wednesday morning after a defendant in Broward County bond court punched her in the head.
Assistant public defender Julie Chase was appearing before Judge Jackie Powell and looking down at her papers on the podium when William Green got out of his seat, walked up to her from behind and punched her in the side of her head, seemingly at random. The hit was so hard that she was knocked to the ground.
"What happened?" Powell asked after looking up from her papers at the commotion in the courtroom.
Everyone in the room was noticeably surprised by the apparent random attack. The defendant who was at the podium at the time ran out of the way as corrections deputies restrained Green.
"Is Ms. Chase OK?" Powell asked.
Then the court quickly went into recess.
A spokesman for Broward County's public defender said the lawyer was taken to Broward Health Medical Center to be treated.
Court records show Green, 27, was arrested Tuesday on a battery charge.