BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON -- Convicted murderer Gregory Curry will be the first prisoner in Warren County to sport its new stun belt when he goes on trial next week.
Following an outburst by Mr. Curry in court last month, when he punched his attorney, county officials bought a $900 stun belt through a grant from the Ohio Judicial Conference Security Review Team.
Two deputies tested the belt last week, each getting zapped with 50,000 watts of electricity.
The belt works through a remote control, said Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss. An inmate receives a warning tone first, before the voltage.
"The officer activates it with a switch," Sheriff Ariss said. "He hits the tone switch. If there's no compliance, he flips a switch and holds it down to activate the unit."
The charge lasts for eight seconds.
The need for the belt has grown with the number of violent cases coming out of the Lebanon Correctional Institution (LCI) and the Warren Correctional Institution (WCI), Sheriff Ariss said.
Mr. Curry was awaiting jury selection last month before Common Pleas Judge P. Daniel Fedders when he slugged his attorney, Donald Oda. Mr. Curry was being tried on charges of assaulting two corrections officers at LCI last year.
Mr. Curry was already serving 20-years-to-life for the murder of an inmate during the April 1993 uprising at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.
After the attack on his attorney, Mr. Curry's trial was rescheduled for Oct. 5.
"We handle in our courts prisoners involved in incidents that occur at WCI and LCI, and those are felons convicted for violent crimes," Sheriff Ariss said.
Officials will pick candidates for the stun belt based on past history and potential for violence or an attempt to escape, he said. Mr. Curry's new attorney, Mark Florence of Lebanon, said he thought the stun belt was unnecessary. "I'm not worried about my security in there," he said.
The belt could violate his client's right to a fair trial if it intimidates him to the point where he does not want to testify, Mr. Florence said.
Mr. Curry can be restrained without the gadget, he said. "I don't think we need all this technology."
