LOOKING BACK Judge adjourns Barbaritano case
Was slated to resume on Friday; man insists killing was an accident
The case of Paul Barbaritano, a city man accused of killing a woman three years ago in an apartment on Brevator Street, was scheduled to resume on Friday but the case was adjourned.
It was not immediately clear when Barbaritano would be back in court. He’s insisted the death of Nicole Jennings was an accident.
He’s facing his third indictment in connection with the killing of the 29-year-old, who was found July 5, 2019, inside an apartment at 8 Brevator St., near the Harriman State Office campus. Judges threw out two previous indictments, citing prosecutorial errors.
The 55-year-old is charged with second-degree murder, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison. Barbaritano was scheduled to appear Friday morning in front of acting state Supreme Court Justice Roger Mcdonough.
Prosecutors for Albany County District Attorney David Soares allege Barbaritano choked and stabbed Jennings to death.
His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Rebekah Sokol, has repeatedly said it was a tragic accident that resulted from a sexual encounter between Barbaritano and Jennings involving erotic asphyxiation. Sokol maintains that while trying to cut a belt from Jennings’ neck, Barbaritano stabbed her.
Barbaritano has pleaded not guilty.
His case has been a bit of a legal odyssey. He was last indicted in November 2020, weeks after then-county Court Judge William Carter tossed out a prior indictment.
Carter ruled prosecutors failed to provide a legal instruction to the grand jury about a potential justification defense for Barbaritano. That followed now-retired state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin’s dismissal of an earlier indictment in the case. Carter’s decision highlighted grand jury testimony from an Albany detective who testified that Barbaritano told him he could not perform sexually with Jennings, who he said wanted to be tied up in a “bondage type of situation.”
Carter’s ruling shed new light on the circumstances of Jenning ’s death and on Barbaritano’s alleged actions.
In it, the judge wrote, Detective Anthony Digiuseppe testified before the grand jury Barbaritano told him he met Jennings through Narcotics Anonymous. Digiuseppe said Barbaritano stated he took a karate belt from his closet, tied Jennings’ hands to her neck, that the belt was wrapped around Jennings’ neck and she encouraged Barbaritano to pull it tighter.
The detective testified that Barbaritano told him that while behind Jennings on a bed, he pulled the belt and noticed that Jennings stopped making noise. He testified Barbaritano told him that while in a drug-induced state, Barbaritano grabbed a knife that they used to cut crack cocaine and tried to cut the belt off Jennings’ neck but the two fell between the bed and the wall. Barbaritano told him the knife went into Jennings’ neck.