Defendant Is Shackled for Trial

Arash Hariri sat shackled and handcuffed during closing arguments in his murder trial Thursday after an attempt to escape earlier in the week.

As stunned jurors looked on and a prosecutor and others screamed, Hariri had bolted from his seat, leaped over a railing and dashed for the door Monday. He was thwarted by his cousin, who is also the son of the man Hariri is accused of killing during a July 1996 financial disagreement.

“I just saw someone coming toward me and in my mind I thought he was trying to attack us,” said Sam Dehdashti, 28, explaining why he tackled the defendant. “It happened so fast.”

Hariri was about two feet from the door when Dehdashti knocked him to the ground and scuffled with him until he was subdued and handcuffed by bailiffs, witnesses said.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Cecil Hicks was about to excuse the jury for the day after Irvine Police Det. Larry Montgomery had finished testifying. Montgomery said he was still sitting at the witness stand when the incident occurred.

“I haven’t seen anything like it,” said the veteran detective, who said he has testified in many criminal trials. “That was a first.”

On Thursday, extra safety precautions were evident. In addition to the shackles and handcuffs, an armed deputy sat behind Hariri at all times.

Hariri’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Don Rubright, declined to comment on Monday’s incident.

Hariri, 29, is on trial for the shooting death of his 67-year-old uncle, Mohsen Dehdashti.

The victim and his wife, Mehri Dehdashti, had recently sent Hariri $1,500 to assist in his plans to leave Pakistan and attend school in Canada.

Instead, Hariri came to the United States and ended up at the Dehdashtis’ Irvine home.

Hariri was asked to leave but returned the next day, when the deadly confrontation with his uncle occurred, according to the testimony.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Claudia Silbar told jurors Thursday that Hariri should be convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting because he had argued with his uncle and bought a gun the previous day.

She said the defendant also hid in some shrubbery outside the home prior to the shooting and waited to attack the victim.

“The bottom line is, he formed an intent to kill him in advance of pulling that trigger,” Silbar told the jury. “That’s first-degree murder.”

Rubright did not deny that his client shot Dehdashti. But he said his client did not plan to shoot the victim and did so only in self-defense, after being attacked with a shovel.

“You can fight with an assailant if you think he’s trying to hurt you,” Rubright said.

He told jurors “there isn’t any credible evidence of premeditation and deliberation.”

The jury began deliberating late Thursday and will resume the process today.