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Man To Stand Trial In SF Elie Wiesel Attack

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Nov 15, 2007 6:19 pm US/Pacific

Man To Stand Trial In SF Elie Wiesel Attack

 CBS 5 CrimeWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― The New Jersey man accused of attacking Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel has been ordered for a second time to stand trial following an unsuccessful attempt by his lawyer to get the case moved to an alternative court for mentally ill defendants. Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin granted a prosecutor's request to try the case over the objections of Eric Hunt's lawyer, who claims his client was having an undiagnosed psychotic breakdown when he stalked Wiesel to California and pulled the Holocaust survivor from a hotel elevator.

"It's nonsense and preposterous and flies in the face of solo reports of two board-certified psychologists and all the medical records of two New Jersey hospitals," defense lawyer John Runfola said.

Hunt, 23, has been charged with six felonies from the Feb. 1 attack at San Francisco's Argent Hotel, including attempted battery, stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment, elder abuse and false imprisonment of an elder. Each charge carries a hate crime allegation.

The district attorney's office already has rejected a plea deal that would call for Hunt, 23, to receive a sentence of probation and jail time already served.

Runfola wanted the case moved to the city's Behavioral Health Court, which works to find treatment-oriented alternatives to prison for substance abusers and mentally ill criminal defendants.

The district attorney objected to the switch, saying the seriousness of the charges mandate a felony trial.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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