Summary: A murder suspect punched his lawyer in the mouth after receiving a not-guilty verdict.
After a murder suspect received a not-guilty verdict, he punched his lawyer in the jaw. Despite that this sock upset the lawyer’s recent root canal, he took it in stride, refusing to press charges. After all, it just went to show how mentally unstable his client really was.
The Manhattan jury found Alejandro Morales, 30, not guilty by reason of mental defect, for killing his 9-year-old cousin over a dispute over an Xbox game in 2010. Attorney Fred Sosinsky argued that his client should not serve time in prison, but Morales misunderstood, and thought he would go free. When Sosinksy explained that Morales might spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital, Morales punched him.
“Then all hell broke loose,” the lawyer explained, detailing how 15 court officers subdued the murder suspect while he jerked his arms wildly about. Some of the dismissed jurors returned out of curiosity what the commotion was about.
“My client’s actions follow the verdict and bespeak the degree of volatility and the severity of his mental illness. I’m not [pressing charges] because I’m confident that this is the result of – as I argued to the jury – a dangerously mentally ill person who needs to be in a secure psychiatric facility, not a state prison.”
Perhaps getting punched in the root canal was a welcome demonstration of the merits of his case?
News Source: NYPost
