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Friday, September 19, 2008

Ind. Courts - "Man arrested after attack on lawyer in Jefferson County Courthouse"

Brian Jones, writing for the Madison Courier, reports today:

A Madison man was arrested on a charge of battery Wednesday afternoon after allegedly assaulting his attorney on the first floor of the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Benjamin Dale Linville, 33, who gained attention in September 2004 when he caused a power outage for an estimated 3,700 Madison households, approached his attorney Mary Beth Mock at around 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday from behind and pushed her into the north wall of the courthouse's first floor hallway, according to an eye-witness account. When Mock turned around, Linville pushed her head into the hard plaster wall again, according to a sheriff's department report and an eye-witness account.

When Mock screamed for help, Superior Court Judge Fred Hoying came out of the auditor's office and followed Linville out of the courthouse and told him to sit at a picnic table at the west end of the courthouse while law enforcement was contacted, according to a sheriff's department report. * * *

Four years ago this month, Linville was accused of breaking into the electrical substation at West Second and Vernon streets and throwing switches, resulting in an estimated 3,700 Madison residents experiencing a power outage. Most of the outages were downtown. Electrical service was also affected on State Road 56 to Shirks Hollow as well as some outages in Clark County.

When Linville was formally charged in Circuit Court, he became disruptive and threw a microphone across the courtroom and knocked over the defense counsel table when Todd wouldn't allow him to immediately plead guilty. At that time, Todd wanted Linville to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before entering a plea. Mock represented Linville in that case, in which he later pleaded guilty.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 19, 2008 04:04 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts