Accused swindler coughs up blood in court after brawl.
Pat Sullivan / AP Photo
Prison life has been rough for eccentric alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, who was still suffering the wounds of a jailhouse brawl when he began spitting up blood during a court appearance on Wednesday. The Houston judge interrupted Stanford's lawyer to ask "Is your client OK?" and Stanford nodded and waved off a court officer who offered help. Despite being held in solitary confinement, Stanford suffered serious injuries from his brawl. Nonetheless, Stanford used Wednesday's hearing to decline a speedy trial; the judge agreed to stall another 60 days before setting a trial date to give Stanford's lawyers time to pore over more than 400 million pages of documents associated with the case.
