LOS ANGELES (AP) - A defendant who threw a chair and injured a police detective during his Los Angeles murder trial has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Jesus Mendez was convicted Feb. 4 of first-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of a man during a robbery.
Five days earlier he was ordered to be restrained in the courtroom after hurling a chair, hitting the detective in the head. Jurors were not present. The detective was treated at a hospital and released.
After the incident, defense lawyers requested mental competency tests for the 23-year-old. The judge rejected that, and also refused to declare a mistrial.
City News Service says in addition to the life sentence, Mendez was also sentenced Tuesday to an additional 25 years to life behind bars.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.