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A couple of random thoughts:
-I worked in Multnomah County (Portland, OR) courthouse for two years as a clerk for a judge. Most cases we, and every other judge, handled were criminal cases;
-Like the courthouse in Georgia, my courthouse was antiquated with holding cells on the top floor but nothing similarly secure anywhere else in the courthouse. Sheriffs deputies also served the roll of guard/bailiff in the courtrooms, all the deputies were armed;
-in the old courthouse I worked in, there were three seperate stairwells and four elevators, it is not impossible for a defendant two make the street if they get out in the first two minutes of the attemtpted escape;
-many of the deputies I worked with were women. They all seemed very capable and professional. That said, a guy like this would never be guarded by just one deputy, man or woman, and the only time he would be out of his shackles (wrists and ankles) is right before the jury was brought in. Only a couple of times did i ever see an unshackled defendant even try to stand up, and when they did, the deputies were all over them. Most deputies I saw at one sentencing was once we were sentencing a guy for a rape who was also a convicted murder and he had fucked up a couple of other inmates at the jail (although he was always polite and calm in the courtroom) they brought six deputies with him ( four right behind him and one standing outside each door into the courtroom);
-I did have a couple of times when defendants who were not in custody try to run after the guilty verdict was announced. Once, the judge yelled at her and she stopped and came back, once a guy ran into a DA right in the courtroom doorway and then the deputies took him into custody. Other defendants had made it out of the courthouse that I know of, so many people milling around and it takes at least thirty seconds for the deputies (except those in the room) to know the description of the defendant;
-in my courthouse, both the judge and the clerk had a silent alarm button. I pushed it just once (for the guy who ran into the DA in the doorway) and it took about three minutes for the deputies to get there, I also worked with one judge (who was retired and just filling in for a few days). He had a pistol under his robes;
-Ksyrup's quotes comport with my exact understanding of the law. Jury can't see the defendant in their handcuffs or in their prison gear. Defendants a couple of times moved for a mistrial b/c the jury saw them shackled up. Motion was always denied that I saw. The only guys who didn't have their shackles taken off were times where the person caused a previous disturbance in the courthouse or maybe in the jail. Also, the judge usually would actually issue an order autheorizing the defendant to stay in shackles;
-all that said, after you do a criminal case with an in-custody defendant for the 1000th time and everything is going smoothly just like all the times before, it is only human nature to become complacent. Unfortunatly, it looks like like complacency in this case has led to tragic results.
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