Lawyer: Shove suspect was ‘overcharged’ in Barbara Maier Gustern death
The Long Island native accused of randomly shoving an 87-year-old woman to her death🍰 surrendered to cops Tuesday — as her A-list attorney compl♛ained that she was being targeted for her “socioeconomic status.”
Lauren Pazienza, 26, kept mum as she was led into Manhattan Criminal Court — her flowing red hair covering her face — to face manslaughter and assault charges in the March 10 attack that critically injured beloved former Broadway voice coach Barbara Maier Gustern♉.
Gustern, wh🃏o s🌠uffered traumatic brain injuries, died five days later.
Prosecutors said Pazienza crossed West 28th Street and Eighth Avenue at around 8:30 p.m. the night of the shove and called 🌃the elderly woman a “bitch” — before pushing her to the pavement “without provocation.”
Defense attorney Arthur Aidala claim🍎ed to the judge that “pushing someone who’s on the sidewalk” isn’t the same as “pushing someone in f🎃ront of a cliff” or “pushing someone in front of a moving train” — as he accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of “overcharging” his client.
“The DAꦛ goes out of their way to undercharge a case, and in this particular case they’re overcharging,” Aidala said in court, referring to Bragg’s progressive polic🐬ies.
He question♋ed whether the manslaughter charge, which carries a sentence of up to 25 years, was due to Pazienza’s “socioeജconomic status,” “race” or the media interest in the case.
Gursten’s grandson AJ, however, slammed the attorney’s argument, telling The Pos⛦t: “Sounds like a smart guy. How about pushing [someone] into a curb?”
Psych exam pending
Judge Mich♑ael Gaffey ordered Pazienza to undergo a medical exam and mental health evaluation after seeing her in “pain” and “crying,” Aidala told reporters.
The judge set Paziena’s bail at $500,000, which she is expected to post, according to her๊ lawyer.
Aidala, whose past clients include disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said after the hearing that his client🦄 and her family were traumatized by th🌄e ordeal.
Gustern — whose students included Blondie singer Debbie Harry — was left “bleeding profusely from the head” after hitting the cement that night, Assistant District Attorney Justin♚ McNabney said in court.
Pazienza “briskly” walked off,♕ the prosecutor said, adding that the two women were strangers.
The accused killer then stayed in the neighborhood for nearly 30 minutes — even watching as ambulances and police cars ಌrushed to Gustern’s aid 13 minutes after the attack, McNabney said.
Seven minutes after she allegedly pushed Gustern, cameras ca🍒ught Pazienza having a “physical altercation” with a man believed to be her fiancé, 🎃the ADA said. The two then took a train from Penn Station back to their home in Astoria.
Allegedly covered tracks
Pazienza subsequently took “every eff✱ort to avoid apprehension” — including deleting her wedding website and taking down all her social media, McNabney said, noting the nuptials were set for June.
She fled to her parents’ house in Por♐t Jefferson, and the next day “completely stopped using her cellphone,” stashing it at the home of 𒀰her aunt, the prosecutor said.
The victim’s grandson, meanwhile, said he felt a sense of “closu🐽re” th🍃at Pazienza was charged but stressed that she was “innocent until proven guilty.”
Additional reporting by Tina Moore and Catalina Gonella
