Metadish, Fresh from NYC

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Peter Braunstein who was convicted of kidnapping, sex abuse, burglary and robbery charges against a former colleague has been sentenced to serve 18-years to life in prison, although the judge called the sentence a likely death sentence for Braunstein.

Braunstein and his lawyers did their best to convince the judge and jury that Braunstein was not responsible for what he had done because he had been in the midst of a psychotic break.  The judge called the defense’s evidence of Braunstein’s schizophrenia “weak”.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber sentenced Braunstein to 18 years to life in prison for dressing up like a fireman to gain access to a former co-workers apartment and then sexually tormenting her for 13 straight hours.

“Any sentence I pronounce on this profoundly disturbed man may well result in his dying in jail,” Farber said. “The acts the defendant committed were intentional acts in every meaningful sense.”

That statement doesn’t seem like Farber thinks that Braunstein is going to die of natural causes in jail.  He says, “any sentence” he pronounces may well result in his dying in jail.  Does Farber think that Braunstein is just too batshit crazy to survive in prison?

Braunstein who never testified at his trial finally broke his silence at his sentencing, but not to apologize to the victim, merely to continue to insist he was mentally ill.

“I was in her apartment and then, after an hour, it dawned on me that I didn’t know why,” he said. “So I just watched the TV and waited until dawn and then Ileft.”

Braunstein said, “This irrationality continued throughout my quest.”

“It was suicide-based,” he told the court, referring to the attack and his subsequent attempt to elude the law by fleeing to Ohio. “So I just thought I’d see America and die. You know, have the cops shoot me to death.”

While many jurors agreed that Braunstein was definitely not quite right, they also seemed to agree with the judge’s decision.

“The judge knows what he’s doing,” juror Scott Morris said. “Braunstein’s disturbed, I have no doubt about that. But he has to be held responsible for what he did; that’s the bottom line.”

At least one alternate juror, a psychiatrist, thought Braunstein would be better suited in a psychiatric facility.  “The psychiatric testimony showed that he had a severe personality disorder,” said alternate juror Dolph Klainberg. “My feeling is society would be better served if he was put into a mental institution rather than put into the penal system.”

Share This