Yesterday, lawyers for Peter Braunstein, the journalist turned molester in a firefighter's costume, said that their client has a fractured skull with a brain hematoma. While they say they are not sure how he got the injury, an assistant district attorney told a judge that a Riker's official said it was "self-inflicted": "...the official said he banged his head on a sink in his cell, possibly in an attempt to delay his trial." Well, Braunstein did try to slash his own throat when authorities caught up with him in Memphis.
However, Braunstein's lawyers say a doctor who examined the 42-year-old who faces trial doesn't believe it's self-inflicted; rather, the doctors think a "more forceful blow" caused the fracture. The trial is still scheduled to start in 2 weeks, but lawyer Robert Gottlieb says Braunstein is suffering from headaches. Still, Judge James Yates said pre-trial hearings could continue.
This comes as Vanity Fair offers an article about Braunstein in the new issue. Braunstein's dad says Peter would play mind games with a psychiatrist when he was little and feels "pretty proud of his performance" - performance as in the 2005 assault. The article is very interesting - it's self-destruction in the NYC media bubble. And we bet "Did you read the new issue of Vanity Fair?" will be asked of all potential jurors.
