A full investigation is underway
A man in Texas has died after he “chugged” a cloudy liquid moments after a jury found him guilty of child sexual assault.
Edward Peter Leclair was found guilty on five counts of sexual assault on Thursday after being arrested in 2018 and released on bond.
After the jury had reached their guilty verdict, the 57-year-old man was seen taking a “prolonged drink” from his water bottle. Denton County First Assistant Attorney Jamie Beck said that the man had not been drinking before the verdict.
“It’s during this process that he had a bottle of water with him at the counsel table, and he chugged it,” Beck told the Denton Record-Chronicle. “It wasn’t like he was just taking sips of water. He was literally throwing it back, so to speak.”
Judge Lee Gabriel had Leclair taken to a holding cell next to the courtroom alongside an investigator who also noticed him chugging the water. He allegedly told a bailiff what he’d seen and suggested getting someone to check on him.
The bailiff then found the defendant unresponsive in the cell.
Denton County Sheriff’s deputies gave emergency medical attention until the paramedics arrived.
“After EMS transported him, I saw him being taken out on the gurney,” said Leclair’s attorney Mike Howard. “His color and pallor didn’t look good — gray — and then he was taken to the hospital. Beyond that, that’s all I can say.”
The water bottle was subsequently confiscated as evidence and will be analysed as part of the investigation.
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