4/1/2023 0 Comments Car times square video![]() ![]() Elsman’s younger sister Eva, then 13, testified during the trial about her own injuries: broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a compound leg fracture and other wounds that kept her in the hospital for weeks. Doctors were certain she would die, but she somehow survived. One victim’s pelvis was separated from her spine. But Peterson argued Rojas showed he wasn’t entirely detached from reality by maneuvering his vehicle onto the sidewalk and driving with precision for three blocks, mowing down people until he crashed. In his closing argument, prosecutor Alfred Peterson conceded that Rojas was having a psychotic episode, including hearing voices, at the time of the rampage. That put the focus of the case on his mental state. Multiple security videos showed him emerging from the vehicle after it crashed. That Rojas was behind the wheel of the car was never in doubt. On the defense side, family members testified how Rojas descended into paranoia after he was kicked out of the Navy in 2014. The trial, which began early last month, featured testimony from victims who suffered severe injuries from what prosecutors labeled “a horrific, depraved act.” Rojas' attorney Enrico DeMarco called the verdict “right and humane,” adding that winning over the jury was an uphill battle “because it was such a horrible act.” The jury was instructed that if it found prosecutors had proven their case, it also had to decide whether or not he “lacked responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect.” Rojas, 31, was accused in an attack that injured more than 20 people and killed Alyssa Elsman, 18, of Michigan, who was visiting the popular tourist destination with her family. He ordered Rojas held while he drafts an examination order, and said there would be a hearing on the matter Thursday. The judge has said the finding would qualify Rojas for an open ended “involuntary mental commitment” instead of a lengthy prison term. NEW YORK (AP) - A man who drove his car through crowds of people in Times Square in 2017, killing a young tourist and maiming helpless pedestrians, was cleared of responsibility Wednesday because of mental illness.Ī jury in New York City accepted an insanity defense claiming Richard Rojas was so psychologically disturbed he didn’t know what he was doing.
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