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Mantecan on jury taken to hospital
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Larry Lenschmidt, 63, co-owner of German Glas Werks, witnessed the attack on a San Joaquin County Superior Court judge Wednesday afternoon suffering an attack himself while leaving the jury box.

The Manteca businessman was on the jury for the second week of the murder trial of a Lodi man, David Paradiso, 28, charged with the murder of his 20-year-old girlfriend when he reportedly saw the man approach Judge Cinda Fox possibly stabbing her twice in the arm.

Lenschmidt reportedly suffered either a mild heart attack or an anxiety attack from seeing the trauma unfold. He told a friend later that it was horrible, it was frightening, and it was nothing like you would see on TV.

The judge had called for a break in the proceedings, and the jury was exiting the jury box when Paradiso attacked the judge, and was shot three times by a Lodi Police detective who was in the courtroom.    

Lenschmidt was removed from the courtroom on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to Dameron Hospital – being kept overnight for observation. Reports were unclear whether he had actually suffered a mild heart attack or an attack of anxiety.

Friends Paul Younker and Joan Collins visited the Manteca man in the emergency room Wednesday night saying he was emotionally shaken but hopeful he would be out of the hospital Thursday morning.