Hearing on Guard Assault to be Held at Prison

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The initial court appearance of an inmate charged with attempted murder for an attack on a prison guard will be held at the North Dakota State Penitentiary for security reasons.

Forty-three-year-old John Bridges is charged with stabbing corrections officer Daryl Lawson with a homemade knife on Aug. 25. He is serving a life sentence plus 20 years without parole after pleading guilty last fall to the kidnapping and ax murder of a man in Burleigh County.

Bridges' initial court appearance, during which he will be informed of the charged against him, is scheduled for Oct. 21.

Such hearings are usually held in a courthouse. But Burleigh County Sheriff's Deputy Jim Hulm tells the Bismarck Tribune that officials decided to move the hearing to the prison because of security concerns.