Sentencing Delayed for Stun Belt Shock Victim

A sentencing hearing was delayed Wednesday for a defendant who endured a 50,000-volt shock for interrupting a Long Beach judge. New defense attorneys asked for more time to seek a new trial.

A month after suffering the electric jolt from a restraining stun belt, Ronnie Hawkins sat silently in a Long Beach courtroom Wednesday as Superior Court Judge Arthur Jean scheduled a hearing for Sept. 25 to rule on the new trial motion.

Jean replaced Municipal Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani, against whom Hawkins has filed a $50-million lawsuit for being shocked. Comparet-Cassani has removed herself from the case.

On Wednesday, Hawkins did not wear the stun belt, although his left hand was cuffed to a waist chain, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Frisco, who is prosecuting the case.

Last month, Comparet-Cassani delayed proceedings after Hawkins said he needed time to recover from the high-voltage, low-amperage shock that she had ordered for his repeated interruptions of his jury trial.

Hawkins, 48, faces 25 years to life in prison after a three-strikes conviction in April for stealing $265 worth of over-the-counter painkillers.

At his trial and last month’s hearing, Hawkins acted as his own attorney. But on Wednesday morning, a team of four lawyers--including a retired federal magistrate, two private defense lawyers and civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman--defended him.

After the hearing, Yagman said the legal team’s motion would take issue with Comparet-Cassani’s decision to remove Hawkins twice from the courtroom during his trial.

“He didn’t have the right to defend himself,” Yagman said. “You simply can’t have a criminal trial proceed, at least in the United States, without a defendant being represented.”

Trial transcripts show that Comparet-Cassani ordered Hawkins removed after he violated her order not to mention that he was being tried on a three-strikes case.

As a handful of protesters against the three-strikes law watched, Yagman also criticized the district attorney’s office as “foolish” for insisting that “Mr. Hawkins should spend 25 years to life in prison for stealing some aspirin.”

But Frisco said Hawkins’ record of robbery convictions made him a three-strikes candidate.

“There is no doubt that Ronnie Hawkins is a career criminal,” Frisco said. “And although this offense isn’t that great, he’s going to go out there and continue committing crime.”