Thursday, April 28th, 2011

DNAinfo and The Columbia Spectator are both following up on the brutal attack that took place at Columbia earlier this month (covered previously here and here).

Ash Sinha, a 28 year-old Columbia B-School student, is charged with allegedly punching, kicking, and biting a woman outside the Columbia campus at 116th Street and Broadway during the early hours of Sunday, April 3rd. He was arraigned earlier in the week and plead not guilty to two charges of assault, including a felony assault charge for allegedly kicking a police officer in the face while being placed in custody, and, surprise, a charge of resisting arrest.

Interestingly, The Spectator reports that one of the assault charges (presumably the one for the attack on the women) is “assault in the third degree as a hate crime.” That’s the first time I’ve heard anything relating to a hate crime in this case.

Witnesses reported that Sinha appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the attack and was rambling about Obama and Iraq and asking people not to “crucify” him. He had to be pulled off the victim by good Samaritans and then ran into the campus before being subdued by security and police. In the days after that attack, Sinha’s defense lawyer claimed he had suffered a “psychotic break” and was displaying “unusual and erratic behavior” leading up to it. He was admitted to Bellevue on April 6 but posted bail two days later. He has not been readmitted, and is not currently in custody.

DNAinfo quotes Assistant DA Elise Roecker as saying there will need to be a “significant” investigation into the case before any plea agreement is reached, adding that there is no such deal on the table now. The Spectator goes one step further and quotes the Deputy Director of Communications with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as saying no deal is in the works.

That’s in conflict to a NY Post article from April 7th that reported “a possible no-jail deal” that would leave Sinha “without a criminal record.” Obviously that article is a few weeks old at this point and circumstances may have changed, but it’s still worth noting.

I’m all for “innocent until proven guilty,” but from everything I’ve read there seems to be no doubt whatsoever that this guy absolutely assaulted that women (there’s literally a crowd of witnesses). It will be interesting to see how this hate crime charge factors in, and what, if any, punishment he receives. Initial reports after the attack indicated that his father has diplomatic ties in India, which is probably the source of any plea-bargain rumors.

Sinha will next appear in court on July 13th.

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Tags: Ash Sinha, Assault, Attack, Columbia, Crime, Upper West Side, UWS