Courtroom Outburst: ‘I Did Kill Those Cops!’ Screamed California Suspect
A man accused of murdering two Northern California sheriff’s deputies shocked the courtroom on Wednesday as he exclaimed that he committed the crimes for which he is accused, and is ready to be executed, as reported by the Associated Press.
Luis Enrique Monroy Bracamontes began to grow agitated during the 20-minute proceeding and as his temper took over, he yelled to the courtroom, “I did kill those cops. You can execute me whenever you’re ready.”
In an effort to calm him down, Jeffrey Barbour, the Assistant Public Defender, quietly told Bracamontes, “You don’t have the right to plead guilty without our consent,” as Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White watched and waited. Barbour blamed the accused murderer’s outburst on anxiety, per ABC News.
Norm Dawson, another one of the suspect’s attorneys, quickly told Judge White, “We’re not at this time prepared to enter a plea.”
Bracamontes and his wife, Janelle Marquez Monroy, are both charged with murder and a slew of other charges in relation to the killing of Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer County Sheriff’s Detective Michael Davis, Jr.
Janelle does not face the death penalty, although prosecutors are most certainly seeking the death penalty for Bracamontes.
According to KCRA, the murders occurred during a manhunt on October 24 that originated at a Motel 6 in Sacramento and ended hours later after a standoff at a home in Placer County. The rampage also wounded a motorist as well as another deputy.
When Bracomontes murdered the officers, he had already acquired a long laundry list of crimes, yet he was still a free man. Actually, according to Associated Press, Bracomontes is a Mexican national who had been deported several times. He was in the United States illegally when he murdered Danny Oliver and Michael Davis, Jr.
The court proceeding itself was mainly centered around the request made by attorneys on behalf of the suspects to exclude reporters from the courtroom. The attorney’s claimed that news media could influence prospective jurors.
Judge White denied the request, allowing reporters into his courtroom. However, he did exclude any future electronic recordings.
As Bracomontes left the courtroom surrounded by heavy security, handcuffed and bound in chains, he turned to spectators and boldly stated, “I killed, I did, I did. I just want to plead guilty and get the execution… I did it, everything.”
As his attorneys stood nearby hearing this proclamation, Dawson tried to explain away his client’s behavior stating,”I think what you were hearing was a great deal of anxiety.”
[Photo Credit: SFGate.com]
