San Francisco, CA – A New Jersey man was ordered to stay away from Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel for the next three years when he appeared in a California courtroom for the first time Friday to face charges of assaulting the Nobel Peace laureate.
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Eric Hunt, 22, who was extradited from New Jersey, did not speak or enter a plea when he was arraigned for the Feb. 1 attack at a San Francisco hotel where Wiesel addressed a peace forum.
His defense lawyer, John Runfola, said he was weighing an insanity defense in the case.
"Eric has an undiagnosed psychiatric disorder," Runfola said outside court. "He is not a Holocaust denier,"
Hunt has been charged with attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes which carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to prosecutor Alan Kennedy.
Hunt remains jailed on $500,000 bail and does not plan to ask the judge to reduce the amount, Runfola said. At the prosecutor's request, the judge nonetheless signed an order requiring Hunt to stay at least 150 yards away from Wiesel and to have no written or oral contact with him through May 14, 2010.
Hunt was scheduled to return to court next Wednesday to enter a plea. [San Diego Union Tribune]