Lawyer charged in incident at judge's home was a crime victim minutes earlier, his counsel says
An Alabama attorney who is now facing a felony case over an incident last month outside a Louisiana judge’s home was himself a crime victim only a short time earlier, his defense lawyer says.
Joshua Stemle, who was captured on surveillance camera footage scuffling in the home’s courtyard with the husband of Orleans Parish criminal courts Judge Laurie White, had just been mugged, defense lawyer John DiGiulio told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
“While he was in custody, somebody tried to use his credit card,” DiGiulio said. “They found his wallet on the North Shore.”
Stemle should not have thrown punches when White’s husband confronted him, but he had no intent to commit a crime and was trying to get help, DiGiulio said.
“The police got it right when they initially arrested him for simple battery and trespassing,” the defense lawyer continued. “That’s what it was, and he’s willing to concede that. But this idea that you can scream and holler until there’s an upgrade in the charges is unfair.”
Initially charged with misdemeanors by city police, Stemle now faces a felony home invasion case after a review by the New Orleans parish district attorney’s office.
So far, the case has been assigned to six of the district’s 12 criminal judges, each of whom has signed recusal papers, the newspaper says. If the remaining six also decline the assignment, the state supreme court would assign an ad hoc judge.
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