I have heard of fat getting blamed for a lot of things in the past, but this is something new. ”Really, I couldn’t have done it because I was fat”, let the “i’m fat” defenses start pouring forth. And again wouldn’t you know it’s in, yep, you guessed it, Florida. What a perfect last name for this defense is will be called the Ate’s maneuver.
HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — Prosecutors cross-examining a Florida man who claims he was too fat to have killed his former son-in-law tried to portray the defendant as a skilled marksman and attempted to undercut his alibi.
The 62-year-old defendant, Edward Ates, was at least 285 pounds when Paul Duncsak was shot in 2006.
Ates’ attorney has made the case that his client didn’t have the energy to run up a staircase, accurately shoot Duncsak, leave before police arrived, then make a 21-hour drive to his mother’s home in Louisiana, as prosecutors claim.
His doctor testified that bounding up the stairs would have caused Ates to become short of breath and shake, making it difficult to keep his wrist straight enough to accurately fire a gun at someone from a distance.
On Thursday, Ates took the stand in his own defense but didn’t delve much into his weight.
Prosecutors claim Ates drove from his home in Fort Pierce, Fla., to Duncsak’s $1.1 million home in Ramsey, about 25 miles northwest of Manhattan, in August 2006 and shot him as he came home from work. Police quickly suspected Ates and found him 24 hours later at his mother’s home in Sibley, La.
