A 61-year-old man convicted for murder, assaulted his own attorney after a judge upheld his death sentence over the crime he committed 33 years ago.
Joseph Zieler was found guilt of murdering an 11-year-old girl, Cornell and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32, in 1990.
The court affirmed the verdict on Monday and in the process of making a final request, he jabbed his attorney Kevin Shirley with an elbow to the face.
Three bailiffs quickly wrestled Joseph to the ground after the momentary attack before escorting him out of the courtroom immediately.
While in front of a judge, Zieler had asked for the cameras in the room to be taken down before acting like he wanted to whisper into his lawyer’s ears but he went on to elbow him.
”It seemed like he didn’t want our conversation to be picked up by the microphones. So he waved me down and I bent over, and he struck me,” Shirley told Fox 4.
He was sentenced to death in May, by a jury in Lee County, Florida for raping and suffocating his two victims.
Zieler was arrested in 2016 – 26 years after the cold case murders.
The convict’s counsel filed an appeal hoping to get a new trial during Monday’s appearance, but a judge dismissed the motion and did not overturn the conviction, WPTV reports.
Following the attack in the viral footage, Lee Circuit Judge Robert Branning asked the lawyer if he was okay to which the attorney responded that he had taken harder hits before.
Watch the clip below:
