Woman Sent To Jail For Courtroom Outburst Faces Additional Charges
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS) - A woman already sentenced to three weeks in the Arapahoe County Jail after an outburst in the Aurora Theater shooting trial faces additional charges.
Judge Carlos Samour sentenced Deborah Cave, 45, after she lunged toward the front of his court and then started yelling during District Attorney George Bauchler's closing arguments in the second phase of sentencing for convicted gunman James Holmes.
Now she faces four additional charges: third degree assault, unlawful conduct on public property, obstructing government operations and obstructing a peace officer.
In court documents, Deputy Dustin Herndon describes Cave trying to crawl over the row of chairs in front of her. Two Spanish interpreters moved quickly to allow him to try and grab her.
That's when he says she crawled over another row and he was finally able to grab her right arm. Herndon says Cave grabbed a seat with her left hand but he was able to grab her shirt and give her a good jerk, forcing her to let go of the seat.
As he started to drag her towards the aisle, Cave said "Let go of me."
Herndon estimates he moved her about five feet when Deputy Timothy Waters came to help him.
Cave tangled her feet in the seating in an effort to hinder her removal from the courtroom, that's when Herndon grabbed her legs.
More deputies joined the effort to remove her from the courtroom. Once outside the courtroom, they put Cave on the floor.
During that struggle to get Cave out of the courtroom, deputies say she struck Waters in the eye with her knee.
Herndon's documents also indicate that officials had given Cave a copy of the courtroom decorum on Monday. Judge Samour indicated he was aware of Cave's presence in the courtroom and concerns from deputies before her outburst Thursday.
Cave is being held on $5,000 bond and she is being held for a mental health evaluation.
