The incident took place last December but the video was only recently obtained by MLive.com and posted on Thursday. Jacob Larson appeared before Judge John McBain, a circuit court judge in Jackson, County Michigan. Larson was alleged to have breached an order of protection previously made by McBain.
In August 2015, McBain signed an order of protection requiring Larson to stay away from a former classmate. Court was told since that order was signed, Larson sent the woman 22 Facebook messages and hung around her car, sometimes leaving her messages. The judge was not amused.
In their courtroom exchange, Larson became argumentative with the judge. After McBain told the defendant this was “Fatal Attraction kind of stuff,” Larson informed the court he wanted to the woman to tell him to stay away from her not the judge. He later accused McBain of being “buddy buddy” with the woman. McBain became enraged and initially told Larson he would go to jail for three days. Every time Larson kept talking, McBain increased the jail time until it reached a year. The judge later settled on 93 days.
There was only one court officer in the room, armed with a Taser that he took out but did not employ. At first, Larson refused to stand up after being told to by the officer. After the officer got him up, the defendant kept moving his arms, resisting the efforts to handcuff him. That was when Judge McBain swung into action.
McBain tore off his robe and yelled to the court officer to “Tase his ass right now.” The judge ran down to where the two men were struggling and assisted the officer. McBain can be heard swearing on the video; at one time he yelled, “That’s enough, alright! Tase him. I’ll break your f****g arm.” McBain then returned to the bench still yelling and swearing.
This is not the first time the Michigan judge has made national news for unorthodox comments or actions although this was the first time he left the bench and became involved in a struggle. He once told a convicted murderer that he hoped the man dies in prison.
As unusual as his conduct was, it does not appear the judge did anything wrong. Thomas Wilson, the chief circuit court judge of Jackson County, told MLive.com McBain’s conduct was proper. The chief judge said the judge has control over conduct in his courtroom and can take whatever action he deems necessary to maintain order.
Larson has since been charged with aggravated stalking and is due back in court on Dec. 2. McBain has recused himself from the case because he might end up being called as a witness.
