Lawyer Defends Hammer Attack Suspect's Defense

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Robertino DeAngelis was found guilty of attempting to kill his girlfriend by allegedly attacking her with a hammer in 2007.

On Wednesday, he was back in court to learn whether he could be released from a juvenile detention center.

Before Judge Kim Clark determines if he will remain in a detention center, she is dealing with another matter.

The attorney, who once defended him, is now defending his handling of the case.

DeAngelis' family filed an appeal of his conviction, claiming ineffective defense council.

He was found guilty in juvenile court for allegedly attacking his former girlfriend, Sarah DeIuliis, with a hammer.

After the encounter, he was struck by the T in what investigators believed was a suicide attempt.

Patrick Thomassey represented DeAngelis early in the case before the family decided to change lawyers.

On Wednesday, he spent most of the morning defending how he handled the case and he said there isn't much he would have done differently.

"I've said from day one that if these two kids were from Wilkinsburg or Turtle Creek or somewhere like that, this case would have been over way before it was. It was a fight between two kids. He didn't jump in front of the train, in my opinion, to kill himself. And he seriously and genuinely does have no recollection of what happened that day between him and Ms. DeIuliius. That was the difficult part of trying the case," Thomassey said.

The judge is still hearing testimony on that issue, but she is expected to make a decision about placement for him.

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