Lamb of God's Randy Blythe Formally Indicted for Manslaughter

BY Alex HudsonPublished Dec 3, 2012

Back in June, Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe was arrested on manslaughter charges in Prague and spent five weeks in Czech prison before returning to the U.S. to await trial. Now, the metal singer has been formally indicted.

As Blabbermouth reports, this means that Czech the court has three months to set the trial date or delay the case for further investigation. As those who have been following this story are aware, Blythe is accused of causing bodily harm to a fan who was allegedly shoved off the stage during a show in 2010. The 19-year-old concertgoer later died as a result of his injuries.

Blythe has maintained his innocence and promised to return to Prague to stand trial. Lamb of God's manager Larry Mazer responded to the indictment with the following statement:

After a three month investigation, the prosecutor in the Czech Republic has decided to move forward with an indictment of Randy Blythe on the charge of manslaughter with intent to cause bodily harm. Obviously, we intend to fight vigorously against these charges as we feel that in no way did Randy intend to cause bodily harm on the young fan who subsequently died from injuries sustained at the show. As he has stated previously, Randy intends to go to Prague to defend himself at trial.  

While it is a tragedy that a Lamb of God fan died following a performance by the group, in no way do I feel that Randy did anything improper that led to the young man's injuries and subsequent death. The price of a ticket to a show does not entitle audience members access to a band's stage. In the years since the murder on stage of Dimebag Darrell Abbott, performers of all genres have had to become more guarded while performing in response to the dangers presented by fans trying to become part of the performance. We believe that Randy responded professionally to the numerous amount of fans rushing the stage that day, a number of them captured on videos that have been posted on the internet. We have testimony from the venue operator that acknowledges lax security and an improper barricade being used that evening. Numerous testimonies from fans also were contradictory as to the actions of the multiple fans that tried to access the stage.   

At this point, all that the band, myself, and our lawyers can do is to present a defense and try to convince the panel of judges who will hear the case that Randy is innocent of all charges and that his name and reputation need to be cleared and that he be permitted to carry on with his life and career always mindful that a fan passed away after a Lamb of God performance.


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