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Man kicks lawyer, gets Tasered
By Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A defendant brought to court in a wheelchair began kicking his court-appointed lawyer and had to be subdued with a stun gun. | AP Video

One deputy was accidentally shocked by the Taser and recoiled during Tuesday's scuffle with Wendell Hollingsworth, 43. The defense attorney was treated for a cut on the hand.

When Hollingsworth arrived in Franklin County Common Pleas Court for jury selection on charges accusing him of robbing parishioners at a Roman Catholic church during a Sunday Mass, he appeared calm and told Judge Julie Lynch that he had hurt his back.

While at the defense table, he began kicking attorney J. Scott Weisman, eventually sliding from the wheelchair and onto the floor, where deputies used the stun gun. Hollingsworth was later wheeled back into the courtroom, his body restrained with black straps. A white spit protector wrapped around his head and covered his mouth.

He then began complaining that he would not get a fair trial because he was not being allowed to fire Weisman, and challenged the judge to sentence him on the spot.

"Give me 250 years right now! It's unfair," he said.

Hollingsworth was moved to a holding cell next to the courtroom so jury selection could begin.

During Hollingsworth's sentencing in a 1992 robbery case, public defender David Bodiker said he turned to talk to Hollingsworth's mother when his client punched him, opening a wound that needed eight stitches.

In the current case, Hollingsworth is accused of flashing a gun and saying "This is a robbery" during a service at Columbus' Christ the King Catholic Church Jan. 28.

Prosecutors say he was working with Celeste Smith, 51, who pleaded guilty Monday to one count of robbery and was sentenced to six years in prison, plus an additional year because a gun was used. Smith held a bag to collect money and other belongings from parishioners, prosecutors said.

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Reader comments on this story - 6 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Pappaw wrote on Sep 21, 2007 9:17 PM:

" A blanket could have been just as effective. Just because the tasers are USUALLY non lethal should not mean use them at will, especially against the disabled. Sadly, this is not the only recent use of a taser on a person in a wheelchair, at least he wasn't killed. "

To Taser the cops wrote on Sep 21, 2007 6:36 AM:

" Yeah, they should have used a .38 instead. Robbing a church with a gun? "

Taser the Cops wrote on Sep 15, 2007 3:01 PM:

" Serves the cop right for getting shocked himself while tasering a WHEEL=CHAIR confined "assailant". Must've been having a sugar drop from his morning donuts wearing off. Tasers are just another tool which allows cops to behave badly. "

To: Yeah right wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:42 AM:

" Even if someone is on the ground it does not mean they are not a threat. Rather than putting hands on and risking injury to everyone, utilize the taser and get the person to comply. Tasers are designed to gain compliance through the use of pain. When the person complies the pain goes away, and there are no after affects or injuries. It is actually much safer for everyone and more humane. "

re: Yeah right wrote on Sep 13, 2007 9:06 AM:

" What are you, his mom? "Accused criminal blames everyone else for the consequences of his own actions. Film at 11." "

Yeah right wrote on Sep 12, 2007 3:43 PM:

" A man in a wheelchair? Who could not rise from the floor? And multiple big, bad officers had no option but to zap him (and one another)? Since he was brought back in the chair, we can assume it was not just a ploy, and that he needed it. Why didn't his lawyer scoot away from him? Why didn't the deputies pull his chair away to stop the kicking? Seems to me that everyone in that courtroom was playing silly games. "
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