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March 24, 2009 - The hearing in Courtroom 5810 looked like any other. The defendant, with his lawyer, stood to one side. His ex-girlfriend, also with a lawyer, stood to the other side.
But the scene quickly descended into chaos when Broward County Judge Ian Richards told the defendant, John Charles Reasee, 29, of Lauderhill that he would go to jail for violating a restraining order.
Reasee snapped. Before the bailiff could handcuff him, Reasee darted around behind his lawyer and attacked Nicole Word, his former girlfriend and the mother of his daughter.
Richards, 33, one of Broward's newest judges, leaped over the bench. He and Word's attorney stood in front of Word, keeping Reasee at bay while a bailiff tried to restrain the defendant.
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