Measures Taken To Keep Broward Public Defender's Office Staff Safe During Bond Court

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - The Broward Public Defender's Office has begun taking measures so that inmates won't ever hit or sucker punch one of their own at bond court.

William Green was unable to misbehave in court on Thursday.

He was handcuffed and so was everyone else in the room, following Green's actions on Wednesday.

That's when he stood up during a bond court hearing, walked toward public defender Julie Chase and with no warning, punched her in the head, knocking her to the ground.

"I'm doing okay," said Chase. "It was just a bit of a shock. I didn't expect it. But I'm doing okay."

Chase was not seriously injured. She released a statement Thursday, saying In part,  "As one might expect a day after taking a hard blow to the head, I'm experiencing a fair amount of discomfort and pain."

Meanwhile, Green's actions caused big changes in how bond court is run.

Now inmates are cuffed, with the seats re-arraigned leaving a large space so no one can walk up from behind.

Cuffing the inmates comes by order of Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony.

"I am not going to have another public defender harmed on my watch," said Sheriff Tony. "Because if that requires us to make sure people are handcuffed or reduce the number of people coming to court at once before seeing the magistrates, we will take those steps."

The attorney who was hit is employed by Public Defender Howard Finkelstein. He says handcuffing inmates is not the answer.

"The question here is if it worked for 40 years and it didn't work yesterday, look at why it didn't work yesterday," said Finkelstein. "And what you'll find is the police did it wrong from the get go."

He calls it a failure by the deputies who did not alert anyone or provide proper security.

"I think what you're going to find is that the detention deputies were chatting, some were eating cake, but they weren't focused on their job," said Finkelstein.

He goes on to say Green should have never been brought to the jail in the first place.

He was Baker Acted for psychiatric observation when he was arrested.

"This individual was psychotic, detached from reality, violent," said Finkelstein. "You do not just stick him in a group of people and say 'sit down, behave, wait for your name to be called.'"

In her statement, Green discussed mental health in the court system saying, "...if we do not take steps to prepare for such contact, the system fails in its duty  to several parts of our community..."

Watch The Punch In The Video Below

Broward's Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes Junior says this could have been prevented.

"I am outraged about a lack of security and a lack of protocols with the ability to identify and handle people who are experiencing mental illness," said Weekes

Weekes said Green was arrested Monday for a similar attack at Florida Medical Center, where a police report says he threw that person up against a wall and then struck that person in the face and body.

The report said Green was admitted as a Baker Act because of his severe violent history.

"If he were properly assessed they would have probably called his case at the end of the docket with a little bit more personnel to make sure this had not occurred," said Weekes. Weekes said he was concerned for his staff members who handle a large number of cases every day under a "very difficult environment." He said he never wanted to see any of his staff ever being attacked.

"Our people should not be slammed in court because of security lapses at the jail," he said.

After the assault, Weekes said Chase would be taking a few days off from work.

In an exclusive interview with CBS4's Jim DeFede on Wednesday, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said the concerns will be addressed.

Tony said "I am not going to have another public defender harmed on my watch because if that requires us to make sure people are handcuffed or reduce the number of people coming to court at once before they see the magistrate, we will take those steps."

"Looking at the video it falls back on me as the Commander of this office to take the necessary steps for better security," he said. "We are going to look at how to change policies. This stems from a dialogue not just with my office but with my predecessor and the Public Defender's Office. How do we balance safety and security with the way we bring in people to court in handcuffs."

Late Wednesday afternoon, a few hours after being interviewed, Sheriff Tony released a statement.

In addition to describing the incident, he points out an interesting discovery that was made while discussing the facts with commanders in the Department of Detention.

"I learned that over the last several years, BSO has received numerous requests from the Public Defender's Office (PDO) asking for a more lax approach to our security procedures during magistrate hearings, which take place through a closed circuit television feed from inside the jail. Although I understand their concern that having deputies standing close to the inmates or having them wear handcuffs or shackles could imply guilt, they must in turn understand that their requests made it possible for this unusual situation to occur."

Tony also stated that effective immediately, all inmates will remain handcuffed during bond court proceedings.