Courtroom Rowdiness

Yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, a mistrial was declared after a defendant allegedly assaulted an elderly juror in his case.

In February, an attorney was stabbed by his client in the courtroom. And this past Friday, a fight broke out between the relatives of a Braintree murder victim and the man on trial in her death.

These incidents raise questions about courtroom security.

David Frank, a former prosecutor and a senior reporter with Massachusetts Lawyers' Weekly, discusses the implications of courtroom chaos with Morning Edition.