The prosecution has completed its argument in the sex-crime trial of oddball religious leader Tony Alamo. Now this morning, Alamo, against the advise of his defense attorneys, walked into court and said he will take the stand.
“I’ve already won,” he said. “They’ve got nothing.”
More from the AP:
Defense attorneys face a skeptical jury and the likelihood that Alamo will choose to testify even though they’ve advised him not to. Defense lawyer Phillip Kuhn said Alamo’s team planned to call as many as 10 witnesses. Whether that will include Alamo remains to be seen, Kuhn said.
“If he gets on the witness stand, it will be against my advice,” Kuhn said Monday.
In court Monday, the evangelist blurted out a reference to the raid on the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas. The outburst came as defense lawyers argued whether an FBI agent could say he worried about the safety of Alamo’s followers after a Sept. 20 raid on Alamo’s Arkansas compound.
“After Waco, they are looking for safety too, from the FBI,” Alamo interjected from the defense table, referencing the Branch Davidian religious compound in Texas that federal agents stormed in 1993. Leader David Koresh and dozens of followers died as the complex burned.
Kuhn said after the hearing that U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes heard the comment.
“The judge asked me to ask him to cool it,” Kuhn said.
But as Alamo left the courthouse in prison scrubs, he remained visibly upset.
“The FBI likes to burn Christians,” Alamo told reporters. “I should be putting them on trial, not them on me. They’re guilty.”
Read the rest here.
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