BCSO Deputy Issues Report On Judge’s Fight
By Space Coast Daily // June 6, 2014
ABOVE VIDEO: Judge John Murphy and public defender Andrew Weinstock fight outside a courtroom in Viera.
BREVARD COUNTY, VIERA, FLORIDA — Brevard County Sheriff’s Office released an official report from Deputy Byron Griffin, who witnessed the altercation between Judge John Murphy and Assistant Public Defender, Andrew Weinstock on June 2.
Below is the narrative of the report from Deputy Griffin.
[Click HERE to download the PDF version of the Official Report.]
On June 02, 2014, at approximately 1045 hours, I was assigned to Courtroom 3C, at the Moore Justice Center,2825 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, Brevard County, Florida, in reference to providing court security for Judge John Murphy (Involved – 1).
Judge Murphy was seated at the bench and the Assistant Public Defender, Mr. Andrew Weinstock (Involved – 2), was standing at the podium. Judge Murphy and Mr. Weinstock were having a disagreement over several cases.
At one point, Judge Murphy said to Mr. Weinstock, “If I had a rock, I’d throw it at you.”
He then told Mr. Weinstock to “Stop pissing me off” and “Sit down. I don’ t need your help. I’ll take care of this.”
At this point, Mr. Weinstock became more argumentative, stating “I’m the Public Defender and I have a right to be here and I have a right to stand and represent my clients.”
Judge Murphy again told Mr. Weinstock to sit down, but he just stood his ground. At this point, Judge Murphy stated, “If you want to fight, let’ s go in the back and I’ ll beat your ass.”
Mr. Weinstock immediately stated, “Let’s go out back” and he quickly stepped towards the back hallway. The two of them then exited the courtroom and stepped into the back hallway. Seconds later, I stepped into the back hallway and saw the two of them grabbing ahold of each other’s suit coat, pushing each other back and forth.
I heard Judge Murphy say, “Do you wanna fuck with me, do you?” and I heard Mr. Weinstock say “Alright.” I immediately stepped in and separated the two of them as they still had a grasp on each other.
They disengaged and Judge Murphy went back into his courtroom as Mr.Weinstock was escorted to a nearby jury deliberation room by Deputy Martinez. I then contacted a supervisor to respond.
Sergeant McNatt and Lieutenant Cullen arrived on scene shortly thereafter. Sergeant McNatt escorted Mr. Weinstock to his office on the first floor to await the arrival of Public Defender Blaise Trettis.
It should be noted that neither party provided a statement during the initial contact in regard to this incident and no statements were provided during a subsequent contact the following day. Both parties indicated that they did not wish to pursue this matter any further.
Section 2: Crime scene
The crime scene in this case is located in the rear hallway of the third floor, behind courtroom 3C, located at the Moore Justice Center at 2825 Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, Florida.
I examined Mr. Weinstock for visible injuries and none were observed. Likewise, no injuries were observed on Judge Murphy.
A copy of the surveillance video for courtroom 3C was obtained to include footage of a few minutes before the incident and a few minutes afterwards, and will be included as an enclosure. No video is available for the back hallway behind courtroom 3C.
Section 3: Disposition
This case is closed, exceptionally cleared, and referred to title as both parties do not wish to pursue the matter any further.
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