Double-murder defendant Jeremy Christian couldn’t contain himself as one of the accusers in his case spoke during a hearing Friday.

His outburst followed a comment by Demetria Hester, an African American woman who has said Christian threw a Gatorade bottle at her face the day before he fatally stabbed two men on a MAX train.

Hester was in court to urge the judge not to postpone Christian’s aggravated murder trial, scheduled to begin in late June. That delay, requested by defense attorneys this week, could very likely be granted given the potential passage of a capital punishment bill that could make Christian ineligible for the death penalty.

As Hester described the MAX attack as “a senseless hate crime,” Christian interrupted.

“Manufactured!” Christian yelled from his seat on the other side of the courtroom.

Hester stopped speaking as all attention turned toward Christian.

“Uh, you need to be quiet or I’ll have you removed from the courtroom,” said Multnomah County Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht.

“All right,” Christian responded, pointing his finger at Hester. “... I really don’t care. I’m the victim. You’re on video macing me. Liar. liar. Liar.”

Christian stood up toward Hester and kept going. Two deputies moved in and grabbed his arms. Christian kept yelling as deputies took out a pair of handcuffs, restrained him and then whisked him out of the courtroom.

“Manufacturing hate crimes in 2017,” Christian said as he left. "Yeah, keep Portland weird.”

The judge said the hearing would continue without Christian because he had forfeited his right to be there. The hearing was to discuss a request by Christian’s lawyers for more information about the jury selection process.

After Christian was removed from the courtroom, Hester continued reading her written statement, but briefly had to pause to fight off tears.

Christian’s outburst was reminiscent of the early days of his case shortly after his arrest, when he yelled or waved a “Don’t Tread on Me” sign at alleged victims or their families as they sat in the courtroom. But Christian had refrained from making any scenes for the past 1 1/2 years of hearings.

During Friday’s hearing, the judge said she wouldn’t make any rulings on the defense request to postpone the trial. She said she’d address that request during a hearing next Friday.

It’s unclear how long of a postponement Christian’s lawyers are seeking, but it likely would be long enough for the Oregon Legislature to decide whether to pass Senate Bill 1013. In the bill’s current form, it appears the death penalty wouldn’t apply to Christian’s case.

Uncertainty over passage of the bill could be enough to force the judge to postpone the trial: If the bill passes and the governor signs it into law sometime before June 24, the scheduled start of the five-week trial, lawyers on both sides would likely need more time to revamp their trial strategies.

In addition to the bill, Christian’s lawyers also said in court papers that they need more time to prepare for trial by interviewing witnesses and they want to allow more time for settlement negotiations.

Christian, 36, was arrested on allegations of fatally stabbing Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche in the neck on a train as it pulled into the Hollywood MAX station on May 26, 2017. A third passenger, Micah Fletcher, was stabbed in the neck but survived.

Police and prosecutors say the attack was motivated by bigotry -- that Christian was harassing two black teenage girls by spouting racist and xenophobic comments when other passengers intervened.

The day before the fatal attacks, Hester said she reported to Portland police disturbing and racist behavior by Christian on a MAX train that stopped at the Rose Quarter MAX station. Hester said Christian threatened her life -- saying he wanted to kill all “Muslims, blacks, Jews,” then threw the drink bottle at her face, injuring her eye.

After the hearing was over, Hester said she went to court because she wants to fight the racism she sees every day on the street, on TriMet and in the country under the current presidential administration.

“We’ve been enduring this for two years,” Hester said, describing the time Christian’s criminal case has been in progress. “How much longer do we have to endure this kind of torture?”

Hester said Christian’s rant in court is evidence of who he is and continues to be.

“That’s him,” she said, “an angry white racist.”

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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