Thursday, 4:30 PM
Defendant asks lawyer after attack: 'You still breathing?'
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
A small army of corrections officers in helmets, gloves, and padded chest protectors led a handcuffed and shackled Che Sosa today into the same Dedham courtroom where the rape suspect is accused of slashing his own lawyer earlier this week with a makeshift knife.
Sosa shuffled into Norfolk Superior Court and looked up at Judge Charles Grabau.
"I'm back," Sosa said in an exaggerated tone, mimicking Jack Nicholson’s famous line from the horror movie "The Shining."
His former defense attorney, John J. Courtney, stood in the gallery during the brief proceeding with an inch-long scrape from the attack clearly visible on his nose. Sosa spotted Courtney in crowd and turned to speak to him.
"You still breathing?" Sosa asked.
Courtney dismissed his former client's comment today in court.
"It didn't mean anything to me," Courtney said.
It still has not been made clear how Sosa smuggled the makeshift knife into court on Tuesday.
A Department of Correction spokeswoman said Sosa was strip searched in his high-security cell before he was handed over to Middlesex deputies. She declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
A spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating and Middlesex Sheriff James V. DiPaolo said the incident remains under investigation and declined comment.
Outside the courthouse, Courtney refused to criticize his former client despite the scrape on his nose and a puncture wound to his right collarbone that could have seriously injured him.
"I guess I was lucky," said Courtney, who was treated and released at a Boston hospital Tuesday. "It hit the bone."
Courtney said he would leave it up prosecutors whether or not they want to pursue charges. Sosa, 37, is accused of attacking Courtney during jury selection in a trial in which he is charged with nine counts of aggravated rape against a Quincy woman in 2001.
Courtney worked with him for two years on the case. "For the most part, I would say we got along with each other as well as you can get along with him," Courtney said.
This morning, Judge Charles Grabau assigned veteran Brockton criminal defense lawyer Joseph Krowski to defend Sosa in the rape trial, which was delayed until at least May to allow him to prepare for the case.
Sosa will be handcuffed and shackled for all future court appearances, said Grabau, who recused himself from the case because he said he could be called as a witness if charges are filed for the assault.
