Paterson Teen Caught On Video Sucker Punching Man Pleads Guilty
PATERSON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey teenager has admitted to sucker punching a stranger nearly two years ago in Paterson.
The victim, Cesar Nejara, sat in Passaic County court Wednesday morning and watched as his attacker, 18-year-old Kristian Gonzalez, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
The December 2015 incident was caught on video and posted to Facebook. The video shows the then 16-year-old Gonzalez walk up to Nejara, punch him, and knock the man unconscious.
"When you punched him you intended to cause serious bodily injury to him. Isn't that true?" defense attorney Harley Breite asked Gonzalez in court.
"Yes," Gonzalez replied.
"In punching him in the manner that you did, in what's often called a sucker-punch, you showed a reckless indifference to the value of human life. Isn't that true?" Breite asked.
"Yes," Gonzalez replied again.
Gonzalez faces three years in a juvenile detention center. He must serve at least 2 1/2 years before he's eligible for a three-year parole, CBS2's Ali Bauman reported.
The teen's lawyer says his client had been diagnosed with several mental illnesses two years before the incident, including schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder.
Breite said the attack came after Gonzalez had stopped taking his medication
"My client is being punished and he's being rehabilitated and we are going to set an 18-year-old kid, young man into the community after having received proper treatment," Breite said. "I think it's fair to say that's what should happen in almost any case."
Gonzalez will be back for sentencing Sept. 30. Breite said his client will make an impassioned apology to the court on that date.
