CHICAGO (AP) - A defense attorney for a convicted bank robber captured days after he escaped from a high-rise jail in downtown Chicago says his client has been falsely portrayed as menacing and violent.

Attorney Beau Brindley spoke after Joseph "Jose" Banks' initial hearing in a U.S. court in Chicago.

Banks faces charges of escape from a federal lockup.

Brindley told reporters after the 10-minute hearing that Banks is "soft-spoken" and "mild-mannered."  He says reports Banks threatened a federal judge as his bank robbery trial ended last week with his conviction were inaccurate and "sensationalized."

Brindley says when Banks told the judge she'd be "hearing from" him, Banks merely meant he'd soon be filing post-trial motions.

A cellmate who escaped with Banks on Tuesday, Kenneth Conley, remains at large.

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