GUILTY AS … OOPS!
Cello suspects pleads - att'y intercedes
A woman accused of attacking a subway cellist with a water bottle tried to plead guilty Wednesday — only to be talked out of it during a bizarre scene in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Amira Hunter, 23, was arraigned on assault charges for allegedly bashing cellist Iain S. Forrest in the head while he performed in the Herald Square subway station on Feb. 19.
When asked by a clerk how she planned to plead, Hunter quickly responded “guilty” — only for her frantic lawyer, Molly Kamus, to jump in and stop her from saying anything further.
The pair had a hushed conversation at the defense table inside Judge Gregory Carro’s courtroom before the judge asked whether the attorney wanted to change the plea, to which she agreed.
Hunter — who sported a beige prison jumpsuit — then flashed smiles and several times stuck her tongue out to photographers in the jury well during the proceeding, where prosecutors asked the judge to beef up her bail following a March 5 shoplifting arrest that came after she was put on supervised release by Judge Marva Brown in the subway incident.
Hunter found herself back in handcuffs and in front of the judge again for allegedly swiping a $325 Moncler baseball cap from a Midtown Nordstrom.
The same judge then set bail at $500 bond — again shrugging off a $10,000 bail request from prosecutors.
But this time, the judge sided with prosecutors — who asked for $15,000 cash bail — by increasing Hunter’s bail to either $10,000 cash or a $10,000 partially insured bond.
Just-a-buck bail fail
Hunter’s attorney tried arguing for $1 bail because she wasn’t able to post the initial bond payment due to having no income.
She then said that she would be asking for a higher tier of supervised release if Hunter had been able to post bail to begin with, which she claimed Hunter is not violent despite the arrest.
“She didn’t follow the rule of supervised release,” the judge said.
“She was rearrested.” Hunter was allegedly watching Forrest, 29, perform with an electric cello inside the subway station at West 34th Street when she snuck up behind the musician and bashed him in the back of the head with his metal water bottle.
Forrest’s video of the attack went viral.
He said after the attack that he was at his “breaking point” after being attacked for the second time while performing underground.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that subway entertainers deserve to perform in a safe environment and not feel threatened by others.
“Subway musicians bring joy to New York’s bustling subway system, and they deserve to perform in a safe environment. As alleged, Amira Hunter’s random and violent action left a subway musician in immense pain,” Bragg said.
“Anyone who threatens the safety of New Yorkers using our public transportation will be held accountable. I hope the victim continues to heal from this assault.”
Hunter is due back in court on June 20.