Fulton County courthouse still strives for security, 20 years after Brian Nichols

Nichols, who was on trial for rape, was in a holding cell when he overpowered deputy Cynthia Hall, who was to escort him to court. He then used Hall’s gun to hold several people hostage and overpower a second deputy inside Judge Rowland Barnes’ chambers.

He walked into Barnes’ adjacent courtroom and killed Barnes, who was presiding over his rape trial, and court reporter Julia Ann Brandau. He shot and killed Sgt. Hoyt Teasley outside the courthouse as he was fleeing. He later killed off-duty federal agent David Wilhelm at a home under construction in Buckhead.

Credit: Jennifer Brett

Credit: Jennifer Brett

The sheriff’s office is responsible for security at the courthouse downtown and the adjacent buildings. As one of the busiest courthouses in the South, Labat said they take that responsibility seriously with security “at the paramount of what we do.”

Lt. Col. Shavonne Edwards is in charge of making sure a rampage like Brian Nichols' doesn’t ever happen again.

“We’re very vigilant. We upgraded our camera system, we have hundreds of cameras on the system that we monitor daily. We have a centralized command center where we have staff that monitor the cameras,” Edwards said.

Most mornings, a line of jurors, lawyers and regular people wait until 8:30 a.m. to be allowed into the courtroom. Before entering, they have to clear their pockets and bags, take out computers and remove their coats before placing them on a conveyor belt and walking through metal detectors. All of this takes place under the watchful eyes of deputies.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Throughout the building, a number of deputies are assigned to each courtroom and judge. Some high-profile cases, like the long-running “Young Slime Life” trial, require additional deputies and resources. During the YSL trial, a number of deputies, including some from other law enforcement agencies, were seen on a regular basis.

Edwards joined the sheriff’s office in 2007, but was later assigned to the courthouse in 2010, where a lot of the deputies who were working on March 11, 2005 still worked. She had the opportunity to be trained by several of the courthouse deputies who responded to the incident.

She said the level of training was very different. Now, the focus is on how to deal with inmates on a regular basis. Instead of having hearings in different buildings, inmate hearings exclusively take place in the main courthouse building, where there is a proper detention area that was redesigned after Nichols.

With a command scene and multiple surveillance cameras around the building, she also ensures that there is constant communication between all departments.

“Everyone in this building are our eyes and ears because they walk throughout the facility just like us and they may see something that we don’t,” she said.

Barry Hazen, who represented Nichols in the rape trial, saw a change in courthouse security after that day, especially in Fulton County. He said he feels security in Fulton is a bit more hostile with a confrontational feel.

“It’s not friendly. It’s suspicious. It’s aggressive, and I don’t find that in other courthouses necessarily, but what I do find in other courthouses is almost all the courthouses now have security at the door, and that didn’t happen back 20 years ago,” Hazen said.

Attorney Richard Robbins, who was inside the courtroom when Nichols shot Barnes, said he hasn’t seen much change in courthouse security outside of Fulton County. About two years ago, Robbins, who doesn’t handle criminal cases, was in an metro Atlanta courthouse, not Fulton, where a murder suspect was sat next to him and a deputy. Something similar happened in another courtroom.

“I remember thinking, things really aren’t changing that much. People forget quickly, so it wasn’t like suddenly courthouses started to improve,” Robbins said.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

When he became sheriff, Labat met with the judges to express that their safety and security is being place above all else. Labat said they completed a security study of the courthouse after he took office that allowed them to see what needed to be improved and implemented discrete technology around the building to keep people safe.

“It’s not just the judges. It is those that come to do business every single day, and we want our courthouse to be more secure than even Hartsfield-Jackson Airport,” Labat said.

Although Labat and Edwards were not there when it happened, March 11, 2005 is still something in the back of their minds. The only thing they can do is train and prepare to ensure it never happens again, they said.

“It ultimately was a tragedy. In many instances, hindsight is 20/20. It potentially could have been avoided, but nonetheless, we learned from it and I feel that we have one of, if not the safest courthouses or court facilities in the country,” Labat said. “We hope it will never happen again but we prepared as though each and every day it will.”