By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — The trial of a man accused of stabbing his ex-boyfriend to death in a Hell's Kitchen apartment is shaping up to be a "battle of the experts," the defendant’s lawyer said Thursday.
Justin Waller, 31, is charged with murder in the second degree for allegedly stabbing event planner John Lea, 41, to death last January.
Waller told police that he stabbed Lea multiple times during an argument at the apartment they shared on West 46th Street, according to the criminal complaint against him. Waller, who was arrested in Vermont, said he then covered Lea in clothes and left him there to die, the complaint said.
Although Waller has already been examined by a psychiatric expert for the defense, according to his lawyer, the prosecution now wants to give him the same treatment.
In court on Thursday, the judge granted prosecutors additional time before trial so that Waller could be examined a psychiatric expert.
Waller’s lawyer, Daniel Scott, said the psychiatric expert the defense had retained had already determined that Waller has an "extreme emotional disturbance" — a claim which might mitigate his sentence if he’s found guilty at trial.
Scott said Waller has been offered 23 years to life in exchange for a guilty plea.
During Thursday’s hearing Scott called the offer "an extraordinarily long sentence for someone with no prior history," to which the judge responded "It’s an extraordinary case."
Outside the courtroom, Scott said of his client, "There’s no question he has mental issues."
