Convicted Rapist Escapes From Courtroom : Trial: Ricardo S. Meza, charged with attempted murder, walked out of a holding cell Tuesday morning and past some of his jurors. A deputy called him ‘very dangerous.’

A convicted rapist on trial on an attempted murder charge escaped from a Ventura County courtroom Tuesday, touching off a massive but unsuccessful manhunt that involved a helicopter and more than 50 law enforcement officials.

“We do consider him very dangerous,” said Chuck Buttell, a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy. Buttell said Ricardo Sylvester Meza, 26, is the first inmate to successfully escape custody at the Ventura County Hall of Justice.

But Buttell believes residents near the courthouse, as well as witnesses who testified against Meza last week, are safe as the fugitive tries to make his way out of the county.

“We think he is in the wind,” Buttell said, adding that the manhunt around the courthouse was called off Tuesday afternoon. Police agencies throughout California have been notified of the escape and given a picture of the 5-foot, 2-inch Meza, Buttell said.

“He could be anywhere,” he said.

Meza sauntered by amazed jurors milling in a courthouse hallway about 10:30 a.m. Minutes later, bailiffs inside the courtroom frantically and fruitlessly searched the holding cell for the diminutive defendant, who was to be seated at the defense table to listen to closing arguments.

Deputy John Wilson, the bailiff who was guarding Meza, said the fugitive must have picked the lock on his 8-by-12-foot holding cell and snuck into an adjoining, empty courtroom. But since he had been patted down before being left alone and no tools or damage to the door were found, it appears Meza left through an unlocked door, other officials said.

“But we are still checking on that,” Buttell said.

Once Meza got out of the holding cell, he slipped into the hallway, where he walked past several of his own jurors before blending in with the usual pedestrian traffic on the third floor of the courthouse.

Panicked bailiffs ran out into the hall after discovering the empty cell, and the stunned jurors told them of Meza’s stroll to freedom.

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Because he was on trial, Meza was unshackled and wearing street clothes: a long-sleeved denim shirt, black pants and black shoes.

The twice-convicted felon was facing a “third-strike” sentence of at least 35 years in prison and as long as life in prison if the jury found him guilty of trying to kill Gustavo Herrera last October. Prosecutors said Herrera was stabbed more than 25 times and robbed after he drank beer and did cocaine with Meza as they sat in a van in front of Meza’s family home on Raemere Street in Camarillo.

On Tuesday, police staked out the family home. Meza’s mother said she had last spoken with her son last week and did not know his whereabouts.

Herrera, who served prison time for rape and burglary, is an illegal immigrant who was deported to Mexico after his parole from prison in 1993, Buttell said.

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Despite defense attorney Todd Howeth’s objections, Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. ordered the trial to continue. Campbell told jurors that Meza “left custody without permission” and ordered prosecutor Richard E. Simon to start his closing argument.

“He can’t walk out of court and say, ‘Ha ha, you can’t convict me because I’m not here,’ ” Simon said.

Howeth objected again when Simon told the jury that the defendant’s empty chair “was as clear proof as any” that Meza is guilty. Howeth also objected to Simon’s characterizing Meza as evil.

“But he is evil,” Simon said.

Howeth declined to comment on the case outside the courtroom.

The jury began deliberating late Tuesday and is scheduled to resume discussions today.

“If he is convicted, he faces a long prison sentence when he gets back,” Simon said.

Staff writer Christina Lima also contributed to this report.