Robert Courtney: The King of Courtroom Comity
Robert Courtney in his Redondo Beach pier office. Photo by David Fairchild “I’d rather work out a case in a nice, easy manner with the DA and judge. I’ve found you don’t get many fair dispositions if you adopt an aggressive or hostile manner.” – defense attorney Bob Courtney. The defendant had been convicted of rape and murder. The prosecutor was demanding the death penalty. “He’s an animal,” the prosecutor told the jury while pointing his finger at the defendant. The defendant leapt to his feet, hurled his chair at the bailiff and ran from the courtroom. The courtroom was over a paint store, down the street from the overcrowded Inglewood Superior Courthouse. The Torrance Courthouse wasn’t yet built. The defendant almost certainly would have escaped had he taken the first stairway, which led to the street. Instead, he raced down the hall toward the exit through which he had been brought in after having arrived on the jail bus. He smashed down a door blocking his way and stumbled into the judge’s chambers. “It was a mess. His mother was there and I was afraid the bailiff was going to shoot him. Two jurors and the court reporter fainted,” recalled Bob Courtney, who represented the…
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