Today is a big day for Randy Blythe and Lamb Of God. After being arrested in the Czech Republic this past summer, detained for five weeks and then released on 400,000 dollars bail, Randy Blythe is back in a Czech court day for the beginning of his trial. He is being charged with what amounts to involuntary manslaughter, on allegations that he pushed a fan at a 2010 show in Prague, and the fan suffered injuries from that push that eventually led to his death. Any footage released from the show does not show the incident.
Blythe was sporting a shorter haircut, and a suit in photos taken by the Czech media. In addition to a possible jail sentence, the family of the deceased fan is seeking 10 million Czech Koruna — which rounds up to $530,000 U.S., no small sum of money at all, and according to Blythe's lawyers, that's over two years of Blythe's income.
Before the trial, Blythe posted this photo and message on Instagram:
And so it begins. I am calm & prepared. Everyone, thanks for your good thoughts and prayers. Have a nice day, y'all!
Blythe isn't the only Lamb of God member in the Czech Repbulic, as drummer Chris Adler was also there and took the stand according to a Czech Report:
“In court testimony and drummer, who said he did not see anything behind.The injured fan is in his own words learned only at the moment when the singer arrested by the police.He added that the roughness of the band leader at concerts is just a show for the audience, otherwise it is said to be calm, gentle and well-read.”
It's hard to fully make out what is being said in the trial based on these rough translations, but Blythe has also testified describing the incident, stating his poor eye sight (he's near sighted) and saying that he only sees silhouettes on stage. When describing his interaction with the fallen fan, Blythe described the incident as so:
"The first time he ran towards me, waving at me, then jumped off the stage and waited for the crowd to grab him," said Blythe.
“‘I thought he might be dangerous. He was hugging me. [That's] when I decided to give him clear that the stage is not welcome,’ said the singer. Then he described that while singing, he grabbed the fan’s shirt, knocked him to the ground, knelt beside him, and told him repeatedly and emphatically: ‘Do not go on stage, stop it.’”
Adler and Blythe's manager were brought in as character witnesses to couteract the prosecution's claims that Blythe is an “aggressive and antisocial personality” which the frontman brushed off saying:
“I’m only aggressive on stage, it’s part of the concert. We participate in charitable activities. I sold one of our Grammys at auction and donated the proceeds to research on children’s muscle atrophy. I contributed to breast cancer research.”
The trial is set to end this Friday, February 8th and a verdict could be announced as soon as next Monday.
Obviously, we will be keeping close tabs on the story and will report back as soon as we hear any further info.
UPDATE: Read our report from Day 2 of the trail.
UPDATE: Randy Blythe issues first statement since the trail began calling online reports inaccurate.
UPDATE: Read our report from day 3 of the trial, where a fan in attendance defends Blythe
Read our previous coverage of the trial here.
