A writer accused of posing as a firefighter and sexually abusing a Manhattan woman on Halloween night last October will get nearly two extra months to decide whether he will present a psychiatric defense at trial, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Peter Braunstein, 41, an aspiring playwright and journalist who once wrote for Women's Wear Daily, has pleaded not guilty to an indictment that charges him with arson, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, sexual abuse and assault related to the attack.
Braunstein was given extra time to decide whether he is going to claim mental problems after his lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, said he is still investigating the case.
Gottlieb said he had not yet asked for a psychiatric examination for Braunstein.
State Supreme Court Justice Micki Scherer, sitting in for the trial judge, Justice James Yates, told Gottlieb to return March 23 to receive Yates' decisions on defense motions and to report whether his client will offer a psychiatric defense at trial.
30 days norm
Defendants normally have 30 days after arraignment on an indictment to tell the court whether they will claim a psychiatric defense. Gottlieb said that by March 23 he will have had 50 additional days.
Braunstein, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, sat quietly during the five-minute proceeding.
The knife wounds on the right side of his neck, which he inflicted on himself as he was about to be arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, in December, appear to have healed.
Braunstein is accused of breaking into a New York woman's apartment on Oct. 31 while dressed as a city firefighter. Authorities say the woman was overpowered, tied up and sexually assaulted for up to 12 hours. He was captured on the University of Memphis campus after six weeks on the run.
The attack and subsequent manhunt drew heavy media coverage in New York, and Braunstein was featured on the national TV show America's Most Wanted.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was