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Man pleads insanity in Wiesel attack
A man accused of stalking Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel and dragging the Nobel Peace laureate from a hotel elevator pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday, his lawyer said. Eric Hunt, 22, was extradited from New Jersey and charged with attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes after the February incident at San Francisco's Argent Hotel. He entered the plea in San Francisco Superior Court. If convicted, Hunt would face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to prosecutors."I have consulted with a prominent and well-respected Bay Area psychiatrist who feels that the plea (is) appropriate," defense lawyer John M. Runfola said. Hunt was being held in a psychiatric unit of San Francisco County jail, where he was being treated and medicated, said Runfola, who would not specify the medication or Hunt's specific medical condition. Wiesel, 78, who chronicled his experiences as a Jewish teenager at two Nazi death camps in the book "Night," told police he was accosted by a young man who asked him for an interview, then dragged him off an elevator. He has said that he hadn't been so afraid for his life since his days at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He was slated to testify at Hunt's preliminary hearing in August. Posted by: Seafarious 2007-07-04 |
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