Judge Hunter talks down angry man on court steps
‘K-Ville’ detectives got nothin’ on judge
He defuses threatening situation
Friday, June 06, 2008
By Katy Reckdahl
On his way to work Wednesday, Judge Arthur Hunter disarmed an agitated man brandishing a broken bottle in front of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court at Tulane Avenue and Broad Street.
About 10 a.m. that day, New Orleans police officers blockaded Tulane Avenue and surrounded a tall, rail-thin man who threatened to cut his throat with the jagged-edged beer bottle and waved it toward anyone who approached.
Hunter, who was driving to work, got caught in the traffic and pulled over. He parked and took off on foot to the courthouse, where he is the chief judge and presides over a weekly mental health court for mentally ill people charged with nonviolent, felony-level offenses.
As Hunter neared the courthouse, he saw a profusion of NOPD squad cars and an ambulance. He worried that someone had been shot, he said.
Then he saw the lanky man, loudly cursing the NOPD officers surrounding him.
“It was tense,” Hunter said.
The ranking officer briefed Hunter about the situation. But at that point, officers didn’t know anything about the man, who glared at the judge and said, “Who the f - - - are you?”
Hunter introduced himself, and the man relaxed and said, “Oh you’re one of the good judges.” He then told Hunter his name — Edmund Barnes — and told him he was thirsty.
Cecile Tebo, director of NOPD’s crisis unit, fetched Barnes a glass of water. He, the judge and Tebo continued to speak. Not long afterward, Barnes dropped the bottle and got into the crisis unit van. He was taken to University Hospital and committed, Hunter said.
Earlier that morning, Hunter had spent nearly four hours in Lakeview to sign commitment papers for Eric Minshew, the armed man who holed up in a destroyed Lakeview house Tuesday afternoon and was shot by police officers after a 10-hour standoff.
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