Man Accused of Lawyer Attack at Trial

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) -- A rape defendant stabbed his lawyer in court with a makeshift weapon during jury selection, wounding the man. The weapon was about 6 inches long and fashioned out of a hard plastic material. Authorities were trying to determine how Che Sosa got it.

Court officials restrained Sosa, 37, after the attack on attorney John Courtney while a prospective juror was being questioned, said Mike Connolly, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

Courtney was treated at a hospital for facial and other injuries not considered life threatening, Connolly said.

Sosa is charged with aggravated rape and other charges stemming from an attack against a woman in 2001. He had been held in a jail before the start of the trial but was taken to a state prison after the attack.

Details here from the AP via the New York Times.