Man Strangles Lawyer Defending Him For Murder

It’s one of those "who do you root for?" kind of stories.

From the Boston Herald:

Slay suspect throttles own lawyer in courtroom

By Laurel J. Sweet

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

A Boston defense attorney was nearly strangled to death in a courtroom yesterday by his shackled client – an accused killer whose case he had unsuccessfully sought to drop.

John Gomes, 29, his mouth spewing obscenities and his hands in cuffs, managed to get his lawyer, Bruce Carroll, 59, in a choke hold with one hand on Carroll’s tie and the other on the scruff of his neck until a half-dozen Suffolk Superior Court and Boston police officers pried Gomes off.

“It all happened pretty quickly. I ended up on the floor next to the jury box,” Carroll, who was sore after the attack but who downplayed his injuries, told the Herald. “I had moved to withdraw last week and that was denied. There was a breakdown in the relationship. I certainly didn’t anticipate anything like this.”

But Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said others might have seen it coming.

Gomes was scheduled to go to trial yesterday for the 2002 fatal shooting of Ildebrando Correia, 45, a hardworking Dorchester family man prosecutors don’t believe Gomes even knew.

At last week’s pretrial hearing before Judge Patrick Brady, Conley said Gomes was heard to threaten he was going to cause trouble.

“This may have been a premeditated attempt to stop the trial from going forward,” Conley said.

Conley called Carroll “a consummate professional. He’s highly thought of by everyone in this office and we wish him well.”

Gomes, meanwhile, was not sent home to prison for the day. He was moved to Boston Municipal Court, where he was further charged with armed assault with intent to murder.

In a videotaped interview, the lawyer sounded like he’d still like to represent Gomes in the upcoming trial.

And what’s up with the Herald’s headline? "Slay suspect"?

I guess "murder suspect" has been worn out.