Defendant Attacks State Attorney in Stuart Courtroom

[kellyhound]

Stuart, Florida -- When Assistant State Attorney David Lustgarten called Ronald Lee Thomas a "coward and a thug" during a sentencing hearing Thursday morning, the Indiantown resident tried unsuccessfully to attack Lustgarten.

Thomas brushed his own attorney, John Clement, aside and got about two steps toward the prosecutor before Deputy Sheriff Dwayne Midgett intervened.

Thomas, 30, was in court before Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer for sentencing on felony battery charges.

Thomas changed a plea of not guilty to no contest on Oct. 6, just before a jury was selected to try him for the battery of his former girlfriend.

On Thursday, Lustgarten summed up Thomas' extensive criminal record which includes a dozen convictions for battery by calling him "a coward and a thug."

Thomas lunged past his attorney, knocking papers off the podium and tried to get to Lustgarten. Midgett, who was standing behind him, threw Thomas to the floor.

With the assistance of Deputy Joe Gallo, Midgett put handcuffs on Thomas and brought him to his feet.

Bauer told Thomas his actions had confirmed Lustgarten's contention and sentenced him to five years in state prison, the maximum sentence he could impose.

Lustgarten said Thomas had savagely beaten his girlfriend and did not believe she would testify in court.

"I was ready to show the jury pictures of what he did to her, but when she showed up to testify (on Oct. 6), he changed his plea," he said.

Thomas will not be charged with anything as a result of the courtroom altercation, Lustgarten said.

"It would only be a misdemeanor, and I would have had to say I was afraid of him," he said. "I was not and am not afraid of him.

I had every confidence in our deputies, and they proved to me just how good they are at their jobs."

That kind of courthouse altercation is uncommon but not unusual, said Sgt. Ron Cromer, who brought two other deputies to the courtroom when the altercation was seen on the surveillance videos in the courthouse.

Cromer said he couldn't remember another attempted act of violence in the Martin County Courthouse.

"But Midgett and Gallo had everything under control before we got there," Cromer said.