Attack in New York courtroom raises safety concerns

NEW YORK, New York (AP) -- When Victor Wright gets sentenced next week in his drug case, he won't be anywhere near the courthouse.

He will appear from a Brooklyn jail by closed-circuit monitor, a precaution taken after the career criminal slipped a disposable razor blade into a courtroom and attacked a prosecutor in March.

No one was seriously hurt. But the mad scene, documented by a profanity-laced transcript and by a security videotape widely circulated on the Internet, has raised concerns about safety at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, one of the busiest in the country.

It also has given an unexpected measure of fame to a court reporter who leapt into the fray to help two deputies save the prosecutor.

"I was embarrassed when I walked into the cafeteria the next day and everyone started applauding," said Ronald Tolkin, a Vietnam veteran billed on one Web site as the "World's Bravest Stenographer."

In the weeks since, the U.S. Marshals Service has beefed up security with more deputies in courtrooms for appearances by defendants charged with violent crimes or facing long sentences. Defendants also have been seated at attorneys' tables and flanked by deputies during sentencings and other hearings, rather than standing in front of the bench.

Judges generally dislike singling out violent offenders to be restrained, believing that "the ability to control the courtroom is really tied to the dignity of the proceeding," said Raymond Dearie, the district's chief judge.

But he said Wright's attack has made the court "rethink how we handle these folks." A committee of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and Marshals Service officials has been studying new precautions, Dearie said.

Seeing the video "was sobering, to say the least," he said.

The Marshals Service is irritated that the security video -- now possible criminal evidence -- became an Internet sensation of sorts. In a memo distributed this month, the agency said the video had been "inappropriately transmitted out of the Marshals Service by several individuals ... with good intentions regarding the need for awareness, training and prisoner restraints."

Eugene Corcoran, the district's chief marshal, said that although he would "prefer it wasn't out there," the video brought needed attention to security concerns. It also showed that his men "acted not only properly but heroically," he said.

Wright's attorney at the time of the melee had to be replaced because the attack made him a witness in the case. His new attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

Wright, 37, was facing life in prison when the deputies escorted him through a side door and toward the bench where lawyers were waiting for sentencing March 11 for his conviction in a case involving a notorious drug kingpin, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. In a flash, the burly convict dashed toward Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny, who had prosecuted his case, and tackled her.

The deputies, the court reporter and even Wright's lawyer immediately piled on as the judge fled the bench, freeing Pokorny and subduing Wright.

"Get off of her," Tolkin told Wright between curses, according to the transcript of an audiotape.

"I apologize," Wright said.

"You apologize, you piece of (expletive)," Tolkin said.

Tolkin, 61, said he remembers the look of horror in Pokorny's face and Wright's hands on her throat -- and not much else.

"The words that I used, I was kind of shocked," he said.

Pokorny said Friday that she wanted to express her "gratitude to everyone in the courtroom that day." She declined to speak further about it because Wright hasn't been sentenced and could face further charges related to the attack.

As for the video, she said, "I've chosen not to watch it." E-mail to a friend

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