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Updated May 23, 2007, 3:44 p.m. ET
Fashion writer charged with kidnapping, robbery, sexual abuse in Halloween attack


The charges against Peter Braunstein include burglary, arson and sexual abuse.

A Manhattan jury of seven men and five women began deliberations Wednesday afternoon in the trial of ex-fashion writer Peter Braunstein for a Halloween 2005 sex attack on a former colleague. He is charged with 16 counts, including five lesser offenses that the jury may consider as alternatives to the principal counts.

Before jurors began deliberating, Judge Thomas Farber instructed them that to render guilty verdicts, they must find that Braunstein intentionally committed the crimes. He told them that they could consider psychiatric testimony about the defendant's alleged mental illness as a factor in judging whether he was able to form the intent to commit the alleged crimes.

Count 1: Kidnapping in the first degree (sexual abuse)

This count alleges that Braunstein abducted and restrained the victim for more than 12 hours under the threat of physical danger and with the intent to sexually abuse her.

Count 2, as an alternative to Count 1: Kidnapping in the second degree

If jurors find that Braunstein did not kidnap the victim under the circumstances described above, they can convict him of second-degree kidnapping, which does not require a finding that he held her for more than 12 hours, or that he did so intending to sexually abuse her.

Count 3: Kidnapping in the first degree

This separate count of kidnapping requires the jury to find that Braunstein abducted and restrained the victim for more than 12 hours with the intent of advancing or accomplishing the commission of other felonies.

Count 4, as an alternative to Count 3: Kidnapping in the second degree

As with the lesser offense described in Count 2, jurors can convict Braunstein of second-degree kidnapping with the intent of advancing other felonies if they believe the crime was committed in less than 12 hours.

Count 5: Arson in the second degree

This count refers to smoke bombs that Braunstein allegedly ignited in the stairwell of the victim's building as a pretense to enter her apartment dressed as a firefighter. The jury must find that the fire caused damage to the building, and that Braunstein set it fully aware that there were people were in the building who could have been harmed by it.

Count 6: Burglary in the first degree (physical injury)

This count alleges that Braunstein knowingly entered and remained inside the victim's building with the intent to commit a crime that would result in physical injury to someone else.

Count 7, as an alternative to Count 6: Burglary in the second degree

The jury can convict Braunstein of second-degree burglary if they do not find that his entry into the building did not result in the physical injury.

Count 8: Burglary in the first degree (dangerous instrument)

This count, which refers to Braunstein's entry to the victim's apartment, alleges that he did so with the intent to commit a crime using the threat of a dangerous weapon — specifically, a knife.

Count 9, as an alternative to Count 8: Burglary in the second degree

Jurors can convict Braunstein of second-degree burglary if they determine that he entered and remained in the victim's apartment with the intent to commit a crime, but did not use a dangerous weapon.

Count 10: Robbery in the first degree

This count alleges that Braunstein forcibly stole items from the victim's apartment, including a fur coat, a Louis Vuitton luggage piece and $800 in cash, by threatening her with a knife.

Count 11, as an alternative to Count 10: Robbery in the third degree

If the jury finds that Braunstein did not employ a weapon during the theft of the victim's items, they can convict him of the lesser offense of robbery in the third degree.

Count 12: Robbery in the second degree (physical injury)

This robbery count alleges that Braunstein caused "substantial" physical injury to the victim during the theft of her personal property.

Count 13: Robbery in the second degree (displaying what appeared to be a firearm)

Braunstein faces a separate count of displaying what appeared to be a firearm during the commission of the crime of theft. The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun.

Counts 14-16: Sexual abuse in the first degree

These three counts correspond to three instances in which the victim claims Braunstein touched her breasts once and her genital area twice, under the threat of physical force.



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