Texas man dies after chug a bottle of liquid in courtroom after child sex assault conviction

A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday.

After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon, and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said.

Howard said he was drinking. I looked over and noticed him drinking. His hand was shaking. At the time, I thought it was shaking because of the verdict. He kept drinking and drinking. Assistant District Attorney Jamie Beck told the Denton Record-Chronicle the liquid appeared cloudy. She didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.

It isn't clear what was in Leclair's bottle.

Leclair was indicted two years ago on five counts of sexual assault on a person between the age of 14 and 17 based on a former Navy mechanic and corporate recruiter. Howard said he was innocent of the charges.

The conviction came after three-and-a-half hours of deliberations and Leclair faced a possible sentence that ranged from probation to 100 years, Howard said.

Howard said that if a defendant is guilty of a crime, a very stiff punishment is certainly possible.

Leclair had been out on bond during the trial and was not subject to the same restrictions as someone in custody, his lawyer said.

He drank most of what was in the bottle before being sent to a cell to await sentencing, Howard said.

Howard talked to his client while he waited there, and Leclair appeared to be dejected and in shell shock - all things you would expect, Howard said.

The bailiff said Leclair was throwing up, and he said he was throwing up minutes later in the courtroom. The jury was sent home and Leclair was taken to the hospital on a gurney.

Howard said that he had been declared dead about forty-five minutes after the whole thing began.

Members of the jury returned Friday and were informed of Leclair's death. He said they were told it wasn't their fault.

The cause of death is determined by the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

The Denton County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Howard said he never saw Leclair, who he described as thoughtful and actively involved in his defense, put anything in the bottle.

He said that we weren't looking for that. No one was looking for that.