The defendant managed to smuggle a razor into court.
A former teacher slit his throat in a California courtroom Wednesday after jurors found him guilty of raping a girl who was 13 at the time.
Jeffrey Scott Jones, 56, had just been convicted morning of aggravated sexual assault of a child and repeated sexual abuse when he pulled a razor blade out of his pocket and sliced his neck, authorities said.
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The ex-English instructor was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to court officials.
“Right after the judge asked if wanted jurors polled, both attorneys said no, and then he took a razor out of his left pocked and slashed his throat,” Orange County prosecutor Heather Brown told City News Service.
“His head hit the table, and I thought he had fainted. But then I saw the blood and the razor blade on the table,” Brown said. Jones had been free on bail pending Wednesday's hearing.
Jones’ attorney said he wasn’t looking at his client when the defendant attacked himself.
“I didn’t see it even though I was sitting next to him,” lawyer Ed Welbourn told the news service.
“It’s very unfortunate, the whole thing,” he said.
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Jones was screaming and the jury was rushed from the courtroom, Brown told the Los Angeles Times.
He was accused of raping and abusing a relative of his live-in girlfriend from 2012 to 2013. The girl is now 17.
Jones faces a maximum punishment of 68-years-to-life during his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for November 4.
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