Timothy Corrigan is used to being in a courtroom, but being on the witness stand was a different experience for the federal judge Wednesday.
Corrigan, a longtime fixture as a lawyer, U.S. magistrate and federal judge in Jacksonville, testified against a man he had previously sentenced who is now on trial in an attempt to kill him.
Aaron Markus Richardson faces 25 charges, including attempted murder of a U.S. district judge, possession of a stolen rifle by a felon and lying to the FBI. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
The attack on Corrigan occurred June 23, 2013, after he and his wife arrived at their home from a wedding. A gunman hiding in a line of bushes on the side of the home fired a single shot from a high-powered rifle that blew several holes in the home and barely missed the judge sitting in a sun room. Corrigan suffered minor injuries when hit by glass that exploded from the bullet.
Police later arrested Richardson and recovered what they believe was the weapon used in the crime.
Richardson, 27, faced being returned to prison by Corrigan for an 2008 Orange Park firebombing. Corrigan previously had sentenced him to three years time served and three years of supervised release. Richardson violated conditions of that release in January 2013 after being charged with stealing computers form a Bethune-Cookman College campus in Daytona.
Corrigan said before the shooting he’d only met Richardson once, the day he sentenced him. A U.S. Magistrate had handled the case before, but magistrates are not allowed to sentence defendants, so Corrigan was on the bench for the sentencing.
But it appeared Richardson may have concocted a plan to get out of trouble by killing Corrigan while filing documents that forged his signature.
Prosecutors showed documents Wednesday that appeared at first glance to have Corrigan’s signature. The documents said Richardson was the victim of identity theft and ordered all charges dismissed against him at the federal, state and traffic court level. Richardson appeared to have taken a real signature from his sentencing order and transcribed it to these fake documents, Corrigan said.
Corrigan said the falsified documents were ridiculous because he didn’t have the power as a federal judge to dismiss criminal charges against Richardson at the state level. The judge also pointed out language he would never use, such as obvious misspellings and one document where it instructs other judges to ignore other criminal charges against Richardson.
He wouldn’t have the right to tell other judges at the state or federal level what to do, Corrigan said.
Another document that had Corrigan’s forged signature said Richardson had a full pardon for all crimes he’d been accused of. Corrigan pointed out Wednesday that federal judges don’t have the ability to pardon people.
Corrigan was the final witness for the U.S. government. Defense attorney John Ossick declined to cross-examine Corrigan and told U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler that he wouldn’t be calling any witnesses in Richardson’s defense.
Richardson himself will exercise his Fifth Amendment right and not testify, Ossick said. Closing arguments in the case will occur Thursday morning.
The forged documents were found in the home of Richardson’s mother. Richardson was arrested in his mother’s house two days after authorities said he fired the shot at Corrigan, although at the time he was only being arrested for violating the conditions of his release.
Authorities didn’t officially charge Richardson with the attack on Corrigan until September 2013. He has been in jail since he was arrested two days after the shooting.
Coogler, a federal judge with the Northern District of Alabama, was brought in to be the judge in the case to avoid any conflict of interest, since Corrigan knows all the judges in the Middle District of Florida that stretches from Jacksonville to Naples.
Corrigan became a federal judge in 2002.
Larry Hannan: (904) 359-4470
