Palsy or Abuse? Disabled Lawyer Accused of Slapping Judge

A disabled lawyer, Hippocrate Mertsaris, 35, has been criminally charged with sexual abuse and harassment for allegedly slapping a Taxi and Limousine Commission judge on the rear end. His lawyer insists that his client had an involuntary movement due to his cerebral palsy.

Mertsaris’ lawyer, Wyatt Gibbons, insisted that “[h]e whacked her in the butt but it wasn’t sexual abuse. He has spastic movements.”

Gibbons insisted that in his condition he cannot control such movements: “If he was starving to death and had a hamburger in front of him he couldn’t lean over to pick it up.”

The judge, however, viewed the incident as a sex crime and insisted on reportedly pressing charges.

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