Mother of shooting suspect warned court during rape trial

<p>The mother of the man now accused in the quadruple shootings that began at the Fulton County courthouse earlier this month warned sheriff's officials in an e-mail that her son could become violent if he was convicted of a rape charge.</p><p>Brian Nichols first rape trial ended in a mistrial Feb. 28. While being retried on the charges on March 11, he allegedly shot a judge, sheriff's deputy, court reporter and a federal agent.</p><p>Clarita Nichols wrote in an e-mail she was worried that "if the verdict did not go his (Nichols') way, he would try to act out in court and take someone's weapon," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday.</p><p>Chief Deputy Michael Cooke said his office received word of the message during Nichols' first rape trial and took the warning seriously.</p><p>"We were fully expecting that he was going to react violently to the verdict, if there was a verdict," Cooke said.</p><p>The e-mail was one of a few warnings the Sheriff's Department received about Nichols potential for violence prior to the shootings. Deputies taking Nichols to court also found door hinges modified into homemade knives hidden in his shoes during his rape trial.</p><p>Barry Hazen, who represented Nichols during the rape trials, said he was never told of the mother's warning.</p><p>"If they (sheriff's officials) knew about some kind of explosive behavior and did nothing about it, that makes me even angrier," Hazen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</p><p>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard was also informed for the first time Wednesday about the e-mail _ a month after the warning was given to deputies _ and immediately contacted Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman.</p><p>"He told the sheriff he expected a full and complete accounting of what the concern was, and, further, why we were not informed at the time," Erik Friedly, Howard's spokesman said.</p><p>The sheriff said he would respond to Howard's inquiry in a report next week, Friedly said.</p>