PHOENIX — An Alaska judge presiding over a trial involving two polygamous cities along the Arizona-Utah border is expected to return to the bench after he fell ill in the courtroom and was taken away in an ambulance.
U.S. Judge H. Russel Holland was taken out on a gurney Monday after he said that he had been suffering from bronchitis.
U.S. District Judge Stephen McNamee said later in the day that Holland was doing well and intends on being back in court Tuesday.
Holland, 79, became ill as the defense presented its case. He is overseeing a civil trial in which the Justice Department alleges the governments and police in Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, operate as an arm of a polygamous sect.
The cities are accused of discriminating against nonbelievers by denying them housing, water services and police protection. The communities deny the allegations.
Blake Hamilton, an attorney for Hildale, said the trial had just resumed after a morning break and he had posed a question when the judge said he was feeling ill. Hamilton said Holland lowered his head but did not collapse.
Two jury members with medical backgrounds tended to the judge.
Jeff Matura, an attorney for Colorado City, said Holland was just getting his voice back after suffering bronchitis over the past two weeks.
Holland was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. He is one of several visiting judges from other courts who hear cases in Arizona.