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Chad DeSoto is escorted from a Superior Court of Guam courtroom on June 23. (AP via Pacific Daily News Photo/Masako Watanabe)
HAGATNA, Guam >> The lawyer for a Guam man accused of killing three tourists in a crash and stabbing rampage said Monday that her client was assaulted in jail by another inmate.
Public Defender Jocelyn Roden said in court that 22-year-old Chad DeSoto was hit three times by another of her clients. DeSoto responded appropriately by reporting the incident to Guam Department of Corrections authorities, she said.
The incident did not appear to disrupt the trial, with closing arguments scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Roden revealed the incident before lawyers and Judge Anita Sukola reviewed jury instructions on Monday. Sukola said she’ll review jury instructions again Tuesday morning to accommodate late changes requested by lawyers on both sides.
DeSoto is accused of killing three Japanese tourists and hurting 11 others in the rampage in a tourist area last year by running his car onto a busy sidewalk, crashing into a convenience store then getting out and stabbing bystanders. Kazuko Uehara, 81, and Rie Sugiyama, 29, were stabbed to death in the February 2013 attack. Hitoshi Yokota, 51, was hit by a car and died in a hospital two days later.
DeSoto has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental illness.
Much of DeSoto’s defense has focused on describing a downward spiral for DeSoto after his paternal grandfather died and his girlfriend moved away after graduating high school.
Experts and DeSoto’s girlfriend have testified that he was not functioning normally.
