New Lawyer and $100K Bail for Defendant Accused of Decking PD

The Minnesota defendant accused of decking his public defender in court before a bail hearing is now being held on $100,000 bond and awaiting appointment of a new lawyer.

The defendant, 18-year-old Dominique C.D. Cook, returns to court in Hennepin County on May 5, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Chief public defender Jim Kamin said a new lawyer from outside his office will be appointed to represent Cook to avoid a conflict of interest.

Public defender Fay Nosow was treated at the hospital and spent the week at home recovering. Kamin said she had some "ongoing injury-related concerns," but did not elaborate, the story says.

Judge David Duffy told the newspaper in a story published earlier this week that he was looking at paperwork when he heard Nosow scream, and then he saw her lying on the floor in "quite a pool of blood" with a cut above her eye. Nosow, 58, has been a public defender for 15 years.

Nosow “has handled this very difficult situation with graceful strength, and we could not be more proud of her," Kamin told the Star Tribune.