Judge Orders Hearing For Man Accused In Hanukkah Machete Attack

A judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys and psychiatric experts are in court again over the man accused of violently invading a rabbi's home in Monsey in 2019, the Times Herald-Record reported.

Grafton Thomas, diagnosed with schizophrenia, has been in a federal mental facility in Missouri, the paper reported.

Prosecutors said he could be competent to stand trial and his lawyer, Michael Sussman, repeated his contention that Thomas has longstanding mental-health issues and should be committed for proper care by the Bureau of Prisons. U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel called for a hearing next week, recordonline.com reported.

Thomas faces local attempted murder charges and federal hate-crime charges. Federal prosecutors allege that about 100 people were at the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibowitz Rottenberg in Rockland County when Thomas entered, slashed four people, then fled. A fifth person was injured in the melee.

One of the victims was a 72-year-old who was hospitalized and died three months later.

An attempt by the Rockland County District Attorney to have Sussman removed as Thomas's lawyer was unsuccessful. SEE: Rockland DA Tries To Remove Lawyer For Hannukah Attack Defendant