07-15-2015, 01:44 PM
Cleared of Murder, a Man Punches His Lawyer
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.JULY 1, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/nyregi...EMARK&_r=0
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A man who stabbed a 9-year-old boy to death on the Upper West Side punched his defense lawyer in the face on Wednesday afternoon at State Supreme Court just minutes after a jury determined he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.
It took more than two dozen court officers to subdue the defendant, Alejandro Morales, 31, as he crashed around the Manhattan courtroom, swinging wildly at the officers, slamming into the prosecutor’s table and ending up sprawled face down in the jury box, witnesses said.
“He’s a very disturbed and volatile man, and we saw stark evidence of that, unfortunately,†said the defense lawyer, Frederick L. Sosinsky, who was not seriously injured. He added that Mr. Morales became violent after being told he would not go home immediately.
Mr. Morales, a felon who has been repeatedly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, confessed to the police he had killed the boy, Anthony Maldonado, at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2010, inside the apartment of Mr. Morales’s mother. At the time, Mr. Morales was on parole for an assault conviction and was taking antipsychotic medication.
In summations, Peter Casolaro, the lead prosecutor, argued that even though it was true that Mr. Morales suffered from delusions, he knew right from wrong when he stabbed the boy, who was a nephew of his mother’s boyfriend.
The prosecutor noted Mr. Morales fled the apartment barefoot, hid the knife in a trash compactor and initially lied to the police about the crime, saying he had been robbed. “Obviously he knew he had done something wrong,†Mr. Casolaro said.
But Mr. Sosinsky called a forensic psychiatrist to the stand, Dr. Eric D. Goldsmith, who described Mr. Morales’s many hospitalizations for schizophrenia, many of them while in prison. Dr. Goldsmith also documented the defendant’s delusion in the days just before the murder that he was being chased by giant rats and threatened by gang members.
After two days of deliberation, a jury determined that the evidence showed Mr. Morales had committed manslaughter, not murder, deciding he intended to injure the boy but not kill him. The jurors went on to decide Mr. Morales was not criminally responsible because his mental illness crippled his capacity to know that killing the child was wrong.
Mr. Morales will be held until a hearing before Justice Michael J. Obus on July 29 to determine if he will be committed to a mental hospital.
From NY Times.
anyone remember the man, in a probate or will conflict, whom took a gun to his attorney? and the attorney was able to live by successfully hiding behind a tree.
the worst was back in 80's when disgruntled clients or the defendant threw lye into the faces of women attorneys round my area.
one famous case, the woman whom was blinded by an attorney she was leaving, thereafter married the perpetrator. she explained she had no one else to care for her. last year or so, she had to bail him outta jail, yet again, i think one million in cash, for trying to do same thing on his mistress.
Judges are not free from this nonsense either. My late husband and I attended Law School with a guy whose father was killed (a hit taken out on him while defendant he had sentenced was still in jail,) by an angry defendant.
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.JULY 1, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/nyregi...EMARK&_r=0
*******************************************************************************
A man who stabbed a 9-year-old boy to death on the Upper West Side punched his defense lawyer in the face on Wednesday afternoon at State Supreme Court just minutes after a jury determined he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.
It took more than two dozen court officers to subdue the defendant, Alejandro Morales, 31, as he crashed around the Manhattan courtroom, swinging wildly at the officers, slamming into the prosecutor’s table and ending up sprawled face down in the jury box, witnesses said.
“He’s a very disturbed and volatile man, and we saw stark evidence of that, unfortunately,†said the defense lawyer, Frederick L. Sosinsky, who was not seriously injured. He added that Mr. Morales became violent after being told he would not go home immediately.
Mr. Morales, a felon who has been repeatedly diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, confessed to the police he had killed the boy, Anthony Maldonado, at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2010, inside the apartment of Mr. Morales’s mother. At the time, Mr. Morales was on parole for an assault conviction and was taking antipsychotic medication.
In summations, Peter Casolaro, the lead prosecutor, argued that even though it was true that Mr. Morales suffered from delusions, he knew right from wrong when he stabbed the boy, who was a nephew of his mother’s boyfriend.
The prosecutor noted Mr. Morales fled the apartment barefoot, hid the knife in a trash compactor and initially lied to the police about the crime, saying he had been robbed. “Obviously he knew he had done something wrong,†Mr. Casolaro said.
But Mr. Sosinsky called a forensic psychiatrist to the stand, Dr. Eric D. Goldsmith, who described Mr. Morales’s many hospitalizations for schizophrenia, many of them while in prison. Dr. Goldsmith also documented the defendant’s delusion in the days just before the murder that he was being chased by giant rats and threatened by gang members.
After two days of deliberation, a jury determined that the evidence showed Mr. Morales had committed manslaughter, not murder, deciding he intended to injure the boy but not kill him. The jurors went on to decide Mr. Morales was not criminally responsible because his mental illness crippled his capacity to know that killing the child was wrong.
Mr. Morales will be held until a hearing before Justice Michael J. Obus on July 29 to determine if he will be committed to a mental hospital.
From NY Times.
anyone remember the man, in a probate or will conflict, whom took a gun to his attorney? and the attorney was able to live by successfully hiding behind a tree.
the worst was back in 80's when disgruntled clients or the defendant threw lye into the faces of women attorneys round my area.
one famous case, the woman whom was blinded by an attorney she was leaving, thereafter married the perpetrator. she explained she had no one else to care for her. last year or so, she had to bail him outta jail, yet again, i think one million in cash, for trying to do same thing on his mistress.
Judges are not free from this nonsense either. My late husband and I attended Law School with a guy whose father was killed (a hit taken out on him while defendant he had sentenced was still in jail,) by an angry defendant.