by Last June, while on tour and in the Czech Republic, Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe was arrested for manslaughter. He subsequently spent 37 days in prison. The charge was imposed for the death of a Lamb of God concertgoer who jumped the stage and was pushed off by Blythe. The fan sustained injuries and died a month or so later. Now, Blythe has been formally been indicted, but maintains his innocence. He has also long held the promise that he would return to the Czech Republic to stand trial.
The Czech Republic has three months to set a date for the trial or to postpone the case for further investigation. If this does go to trial and Randy Blythe is convicted, what could happen? Blythe laid it out for Metal Hammer magazine:
“Ten years with no time off for good behavior. For my particular charge — we’re saying manslaughter, but it’s assault in the fourth degree with intent, resulting in the death of this young man — the sentence for that is five to 10 years with no time off.
Lamb of God’s manager, Larry Mazer, responded to the indictment with the following statement:
“After a three-month investigation, the prosecutor in the Czech Republic has decided to move forward with an indictment of Randy Blythe on the charge of manslaughter with intent to cause bodily harm. Obviously, we intend to fight vigorously against these charges as we feel that in no way did Randy intend to cause bodily harm on the young fan who subsequently died from injuries sustained at the show. As he has stated previously, Randy intends to go to Prague to defend himself at trial.
… We believe that Randy responded professionally to the numerous amount of fans rushing the stage that day, a number of them captured on videos that have been posted on the Internet. We have testimony from the venue operator that acknowledges lax security and an improper barricade being used that evening. Numerous testimonies from fans also were contradictory as to the actions of the multiple fans that tried to access the stage.
At this point, all that the band, myself, and our lawyers can do is to present a defense and try to convince the panel of judges who will hear the case that Randy is innocent of all charges and that his name and reputation need to be cleared and that he be permitted to carry on with his life and career always mindful that a fan passed away after a Lamb of God performance.”
In the following video, Randy recounts his experiences in prison, explains the heavy metal subculture, and empathizes with the fan’s family.
Let us know what you think of this situation in the comments section below.
Rock Hard \m/
Randy Blythe – Credit: thegauntlet.com
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