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07/22/2008: "Man convicted of hate crime for accosting Wiesel"

A New Jersey man who once claimed insanity was convicted Monday of a hate crime for accosting Nazi death camp survivor and scholar Elie Wiesel in a hotel elevator.

Eric Hunt, 24, was convicted in San Francisco Superior Court of one felony charge of false imprisonment with a hate crime allegation. Hunt was also convicted of two misdemeanor counts _ one for battery and one for elder abuse.

The jury dismissed charges of attempted kidnapping, stalking and a second false imprisonment charge.

He had withdrawn his original not guilty by reason of insanity plea, eliminating the need for a second trial to determine his sanity at the time of the crime.

[ Wiesel's literary accounts of the Holocaust are considered fictitious by many, including Hunt. The fact that the jury considered Wiesel's accusations of attempted kidnapping, stalking and false imprisonment to be fictitious only adds credibility to the perception that Wiesel has a wild imagination. ]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080721/wiesel-accosted/