Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe appeared in a Prague, CZE court today, February 04th, as his manslaughter trial commenced. The charges he is facing stem from the fatal injuries suffered by 19 year old stage diving fan Daniel Nosek at a 2010 show the band played in the aforementioned city. The prosecution argure that Blythe had onstage physical interaction(s) with the fan which ultimately resulted in his death due to head injuries.
Blythe has been out on bail for some time now after being detained in the aforementioned city last summer in relation to the charges. True to his word he returned to court to attend the trial, sharing the following photo earlier today on his Instagram with the caption:
“And so it begins. I am calm & prepared. Everyone, thanks for your good thoughts and prayers. Have a nice day, y’all!”
Various Czech media have been covering the event, quoting Blythe as having stated “I never sawDaniel and I never came in contact with him.” Both Blythe‘s bandmate Chris Adler and the bands management also gave testimony in regards to Blythe‘s character, stating that he isn’t an aggressive man.
These were made to counter what appears to be the prosecutions psychological profile of Blythe as an “aggressive and antisocial personality”. Blythe himself is said to have stated: “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.”
Meanwhile a man named George Choros identified as a “cinematographer” appears to have been brought in to testify that it was not Nosek that Blythe was shown to have interactions with in the widely circulated footage that originally circulated following Blythe‘s arrest.
Interestingly, Blythe‘s poor eyesight was also touched upon with an expert apparently testifying thatBlythe can regularly only see “silhouettes” during the bands performances. Blythe‘s legal team are also have said to been arguing that security at the venue was inadequate as well.
The family of the deceased are seeking compensation of 10 million Czech Koruna—roughly $530,000 U.S. dollars in connection with the charges. The trial is set to conclude on February 08th. Video reports from the preliminary proceedings can be found at both Novinky.cz and Blesk.cz.