Story last updated at 8/18/2009 - 10:44 am
ANCHORAGE - The Alaska Supreme Court said a trial judge did not violate the rights of a defendant who was removed from a courtroom for cursing the judge and lawyers, spitting at jurors and refusing to shut up.
The high court ruled 3-2 Friday that Superior Court Judge Michael Thompson was justified in removing Ty Douglas from his witness-tampering trial. The judge worried the disruptive behavior would prejudice the jury or force a mistrial.
Douglas was convicted in Ketchikan of raping his girlfriend. Then he faced a second trial on charges of witness tampering, unlawful contact and attempted unlawful contact. While under court order not to contact the victim, prosecutors say he called her 828 times from jail, trying to get her to change her testimony.
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