MARTINEZ — Two attorneys were treated for injuries on Monday after an Oakland man allegedly used a pen to stab his own defense lawyer before turning his rage to the prosecutor in a Martinez courtroom, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed.
Ramello Randle, 28, allegedly broke or cut through a restraint device keeping him in a courtroom chair, then used his lawyer’s pen to stab the defense attorney on his face and head. Randle then charged the prosecutor, who received a scratch on his hand, before a courtroom deputy tackled the defendant and arrested him, authorities said.
Later, officials found a handwritten note Randle allegedly penned before the attack that said, “sorry.”
The entire Monday morning frenzy was witnessed by a Contra Costa jury that will soon be tasked with determining Randle’s guilt or innocence on charges that he murdered his ex-girlfriend in July 2020 and attempted to murder a man amid a tense child custody dispute. Assuming a judge doesn’t declare a mistrial, jurors will hear closing arguments this week.
The defense lawyer, Matthew Fregi, was treated at the courthouse for stab wounds. Paramedics also examined the scratch on Deputy District Attorney Kevin Bell’s hand, who swung back at Randle after being scratched, according to witnesses.
Fregi, Bell and Randle are due back in court Tuesday afternoon to continue the trial, authorities said.
Reached by phone Monday afternoon, Fregi said he was “fine” and planned to spend the afternoon relaxing.
“It was no big deal,” he said.
Randle is accused of working with another man, Christopher Slaughter, to kill 24-year-old Jonaye Lahkel Bridges, the mother of Randle’s child. Prosecutors say Randle equipped a tracking device to Bridges’ car and followed her to a convenience store in Antioch where he fired at her and a male companion.
Both victims were struck by gunfire. Bridges was killed, and the man survived wounds. The evidence against Randle reportedly includes text messages, location trackers and fingerprints on the suspected murder weapon.
Randle’s lack of courtroom decorum already has caused one trial to implode. In November 2022, his case was days away from ending when Randle exploded at Bell with a series of expletives during cross-examination of Randle’s mother, a defense witness. Randle then told Judge Charles “Ben” Burch to “shut up, I’m not your b—-” when Burch attempted to get the situation under control.
Burch stripped Randle of his ability to serve as his own lawye, and declared a mistrial the next day. Fregi became Randle’s attorney after a September 2023 hearing where Randle allegedly took a swing at attorney Lawrence Strauss, tripped in the process and was quickly handcuffed and carted off to jail by courtroom deputies. Strauss, a former Contra Costa DA candidate, was uninjured.
The case is currently before Judge John Kennedy, who — along with the lawyers — must research how appellate courts have handled similar situations when jurors witness courtroom violence.
One analogous situation occurred in 1990 when an Aryan Brotherhood member named Paul “Cornfed” Schneider stabbed the defense lawyer for Todd Ashker during a murder trial, allegedly at Ashker’s request, while testifying for the defense. Days later, the lawyer, Philip Cozens, gave passionate closing arguments for Ashker’s innocence, and the trial continued. Ashker was convicted of murder.