New metal detectors installed in preparation for Lee trial

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office installed new walk-through metal detectors less than two weeks before the start of the first-degree murder trial of Lee, 35, of St. Francisville.

Lee is charged with killing a former LSU graduate student, Charlotte Murray Pace, in May 2002 at her Sharlo Avenue home. Lee is accused of stabbing Pace 81 times and beating her to death. Prosecutors claim DNA links Lee to the crime.

Those entering the Lee trial, which will be held in Room 602 of the Governmental Building, will have to walk through two of the metal detectors.

In previous hearings, those wishing to enter the courtroom for Lee pretrial hearings have had to walk through a metal detector and then be checked by a deputy with a metal-detecting wand.

The Sheriff's Office is providing no information about its plans for security during the Lee trial.

"The Sheriff's Office will provide enhanced security at the Derrick Todd Lee trial. The Sheriff's Office will not comment on details of our security operation," a Sheriff's Office press release said Friday. "The Sheriff's Office will not do interviews on security equipment or plans."

State District Judge Richard Anderson already has said that he will not allow any members of the public to bring electronic devices inside the courtroom. He said that includes cell phones, pagers, laptop computers or other equipment.

Deputies guarding the courtroom also will not be able to watch over electronic equipment left behind by people entering the courtroom.

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