A convicted murderer in California lashed out at his lawyer after being sentenced to 50 years to life for the murder of a Bay Area activist last year. Melvin Andrew Jr. clocked attorney David Bryden in the face Wednesday (Aug. 22) during a hearing inside an Alameda County courtroom.
According to SFGate.com, the altercation closed out a hearing in which Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes was attempting to determine if Allen understood his appellate rights, and whether he needed to be present for a subsequent court date to set a restitution amount. Instead of answering the judge’s questions, Allen hit Brayden with a left hook to the jaw.
Brayden, did not require medical attention. Allen, who was removed from the courtroom, could face battery charges for the attack.
Allen, 36, was convicted of first-degree murder for shooting of 30-year-old Dominique Johnson in 2017. According to Oakland police, Allen pulled a gun out and shot Johnson, two days before Christmas. Johnson was killed moments after leaving a community social justice center in Oakland, where he was a volunteer. Though Allen fled the scene, he was eventually arrested, nearly three months later.
After his murder, Johnson’s family launched a Go Fund Me account to help support his 7-year-old daughter and his two brothers. The family has raised around half of their $8,500 goal.
Brayden claimed that his client was not the triggerman in Johnson’s murder. Alameda County prosecutor Mark Bennett argued that there was “not a shred of evidence that anyone other than Mr. Allen did this killing.”
Allen was previously convicted of possession for sale of cocaine in 2015, and was not legally allowed to carry a gun at the time of Johnson’s murder.
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