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A Chief Baltimore Circuit Judge had just sentenced Travis Burroughs, 36, to life in prison on Wednesday for sex offenses when Burroughs grabbed a metal water pitcher and hurled it at her, striking her in the forehead.
Judge Wanda Heard remained conscious and was immediately given medical attention as she quickly emptied out her courtroom, reported The Baltimore Sun. Heard sentenced Burroughs to life in prison on charges of sodomy and false imprisonment.
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Maj. Sabrina Tapp-Harper, a Baltimore Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said now new charges would be filed against Burroughs for the alleged assault. Burroughs also faces a trial in January for allegedly assaulting a corrections employee, according to WBAL.
The Sun attempted to reach an attorney for Burroughs, but was unsuccessful.
“We are the enforcement arm of the court, and we will not allow anyone to assault or intimidate any of the judiciary officers here,” Tapp-Harper told The Sun. “We take this matter tremendously seriously. We will protect this court house and all of the individuals herein.”
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Tapp-Harper said while there was a sheriff’s deputy and a corrections officer in the courtroom when Burroughs threw the pitcher and he was immediately brought down, her office would review the incident to determine if additional security measures should be added.
“After every incident, we always critique the matter to see what we can do better,” Tapp-Harper said to The Sun.
Heard has been a judge since 1999.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office referred questions about the incident to Steve Kroll, the coordinator for Maryland State’s Attorneys, to avoid a conflict of interest, since one of Mosby’s assistant state’s attorneys witnessed the crime.
Kroll told The Sun he had been “assigned this case” by Mosby, but declined to comment further.