Since the beginning of the trial, Dale Hausner has been wearing a special security brace around one of his legs to keep him from bolting from the courtroom. He wore it underneath his pants, and it was worn instead of shackles or cuffs.
Last week, Hausner asked Judge Roland Steinle to let him remove the brace because he has shown good behavior throughout the trial. The Maricopa County attorney’s and sheriff’s offices strongly opposed the move. But today, Steinle said he would grant the request starting on Jan. 5, when the trial resumes after a few weeks off.
Basically, he said, neither the prosecutors or sheriff’s deputies provided any reason other than the crimes he’s accused of to keep the leg brace on. “If I read the case law correctly, I have to have something more than that,” Steinle said. He told prosecutors that the decision could be appealed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, if they’d like.
Hausner will still have to wear one security device on him during the trail — something called a “rack belt,” which is controlled by a remote control and can send an electrical shock through Hausner, should he act up.
