OK- Deputy receives cuts in Norman courtroom attack

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11-14-2009 Oklahoma:

by JANE GLENN CANNON and JAMES S. TYREE

NORMAN — Cleveland County officials said a metal detector could have prevented a convicted sex offender from smuggling a knife into a courtroom Thursday.

Troy Leal, 43, used an X-Acto knife to cut his throat and stab a deputy, courtroom witnesses and officials said.

The incident marked the second time in three months someone brought a weapon inside the building.

Leal was in critical condition at Norman Regional Hospital on Friday following surgery. Deputy Steve Lucas received 18 stitches for stab wounds to his arms and hand.

Lucas said he was cut as he tried to subdue Leal when he saw the man pull something from a pocket.

"I never saw the knife. I never felt myself get hit. I saw a lot of blood and thought maybe I had broken his nose when I fell on him,” Lucas said.

The deputy said he used a Taser to subdue the man, and then saw that his throat was cut.

"It was spurting blood everywhere. I called for some towels and applied pressure to the wound until paramedics arrived,” Lucas said.

District Judge William Hetherington called Lucas "a true hero. It could have been a whole lot worse if he hadn’t reacted as quickly as he did.”

As it was, the judge said, "It was the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen in my 20 years on the bench. It was a really violent act committed in front of everyone with no warning at all that it was about to happen.”

County Commissioner Rod Cleveland said the incident points out the need for tighter security at the courthouse. He said commissioners probably will discuss the issue at their meeting Monday.

A metal detector has been purchased for the west entrance to the courthouse, but has not been used because the county lacks money to pay for deputies to staff and monitor it, Cleveland said.

In August, after a woman was arrested on a complaint of bringing a loaded gun into the building, officials decided to station deputies at both the east and west entrances to the courthouse.

Undersheriff Rhett Burnett said the plan lasted about a week.

Officials said Leal was in court because he violated conditions of his supervised release. He was convicted in 1995 on one count of forcible oral sodomy in Stillwater and another count of making an indecent proposal to a child in Norman.

Hetherington had just ordered Leal’s probation revoked and sentenced him to six years in prison when the incident occurred. ..Source..