MARTINEZ, Calif. – A defense attorney and a prosecutor sustained injuries on Monday in a Northern California courtroom after a defendant on trial for murder reportedly used a pen to stab his own lawyer before subsequently charging the prosecuting attorney.
Ramello Randle, 28, was identified as the man who broke or cut through a restraint device keeping him in a courtroom chair before he used his lawyer’s pen to stab the defender in his face and head. Randle then charged the prosecutor before a courtroom deputy tackled and subdued him, the East Bay Times reported.
Randle’s defense attorney, Matthew Fregi, was treated at the courthouse for stab wounds. Deputy District Attorney Kevin Bell was roughed up but only sustained a scratch on his head, which was examined.
According to witnesses, Bell swung back at Randle in self-defense before the man was subdued.
Officials later found a handwritten note Randle allegedly wrote before the attack that read, “sorry.”
“This morning at about 10:54, during a homicide trial at the A.F. Bray Courthouse in Martinez, inmate Ramello Randle attacked his attorney with a pen,” the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital. “28-year-old Randle of Oakland then went to attack the District Attorney, who was able to push him off. The courtroom was immediately cleared. The fire department responded to assess both of the attorneys, who refused medical attention.”
Once the situation was stabilized, Randle was transported back to the Martinez Detention Facility. According to the sheriff’s office, he will face additional charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and battery.
The attack occurred in the presence of a Contra Costa jury that will determine whether Randle is guilty on charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend and attempting to murder a man during a child custody dispute in 2020.
Fregi, Bell and Randle are scheduled to return to court on Tuesday to continue the trial. Jurors are expected to hear closing arguments this week, if a mistrial is not declared.
Randle caused a mistrial in November 2022 when he shouted expletives at Bell during cross-examination of the accused killer’s mother. Bell was acting as his own attorney at the time, and the case was days away from concluding when the outburst occurred, the East Bay Times reported.
As Judge Charles “Ben” Burch tried to restore order, Randle told him to “shut up, I’m not your bitch.”
Burch removed Randle’s ability to serve as his own lawyer and declared a mistrial the following day.
Fregi began working as Randle’s defense attorney after a September 2023 hearing where the defendant reportedly took a swing at attorney Lawrence Strauss, who was uninjured in the incident.
Following Monday’s skirmish, Fregi said he’s “hopeful we can finish what we started six weeks ago.”
“I harbor no ill will toward Mr. Randle because he was in a position to do a lot more damage to me than he did, had he felt so inclined,” Fregi said. “And I’m glad that I got the worst of it because it reinforces the fact that it was done as a means to an end.”
