Jury convicts man in attack on Elie Wiesel san francisco Defendant guilty of a felony hate crime, two misdemeanors

Eric Hunt stands in Superior Court in Somerville, N.J., in a Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 file photo Eric Hunt stands in Superior Court in Somerville, N.J., in a Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 file photo Photo: Mike Derer, AP Photo: Mike Derer, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Jury convicts man in attack on Elie Wiesel 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco jury found a troubled New Jersey man guilty of a felony hate crime charge of false imprisonment on Monday while clearing him of five other felonies stemming from a bizarre encounter in which he pulled Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel out of a hotel elevator last year.

Eric Hunt, 24, had been charged with six felonies related to the Feb. 1, 2007, incident at the Argent Hotel that prosecutors had said was a hate-based attempt to persuade the peace activist to renounce the Holocaust.

The Nobel laureate testified during the trial about how Hunt rode up an elevator with him and yanked him out on the sixth floor, insisting that he had to interview him. Once outside the elevator, Wiesel said, he called for help and Hunt froze before eventually walking off.

One juror said outside court that the six counts amounted to "piling on." The panel found Hunt guilty of what appeared to be misdemeanor false imprisonment but was increased to a felony by virtue of a hate crime enhancement.

The jury found Hunt guilty of two other felony offenses, but the counts were cut to misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor elder abuse after the jury rejected hate crime enhancements for them.

Hunt shook and appeared to be moved to tears as the jury cleared him of the most serious felony allegation, attempted kidnapping.

The false imprisonment felony count carries a maximum three-year sentence. Because Hunt has been in custody for 18 months, accumulating good-conduct credits, he will probably be freed after sentencing next month, his attorney, John Runfola, said.

The case featured emotional testimony by the Nobel laureate about an encounter that left him fearful as he called out for help in the hallway of the hotel, but no one came.

The foreman of the jury, who refused to give his name, said after the verdict that there was simply not enough evidence to show that Hunt - a man who an expert said was delusional at the time - was trying to kidnap Wiesel.

"We don't believe he was trying to kidnap him - it was a few seconds, his intention was to interview him. While not being polite - we know he did not have pure thoughts - it did not prove he intended to kidnap Dr. Wiesel."

Runfola had argued that his client was a "lost soul," not a racist or a Holocaust denier.

He said Hunt was in a delusional state caused by bipolar disorder when he followed Wiesel across the country, an expedition financed by a $10,000 inheritance from his grandmother.

After the verdict, Runfola expressed relief and said his client has been unjustly treated as a hate monger when he was really mentally ill.

"He's recovered. It's over - he's a meek soul," Runfola said outside court. "He's not a Holocaust denier," he said, adding that he would never have defended him under such circumstances.

The prosecution portrayed Hunt as an anti-Semitic stalker bent on getting Wiesel to say the Holocaust was a lie and who boasted about his exploits on the Internet.

The prosecutor, Alan Kennedy, had no comment after the verdict. But in a statement, District Attorney Kamala Harris said: "Crimes motivated by hate are among the most reprehensible of offenses. ... This defendant has been made to answer for an unwarranted and biased attack on a man who has dedicated his life to peace."