Mistrial Declared After Victim Stabs Defendant

A mistrial was declared Thursday in the case of a man charged with attempted murder after the man he was accused of stabbing allegedly stabbed him while the two were alone together on an elevator in the Pasadena courthouse, prosecutors said.

Allie Braverman, 40, was hospitalized in stable condition with a least five stab wounds after the confrontation in the elevator Wednesday with Joseph Hernandez on what was to have been the first day of Braverman’s trial.

Hernandez, whom Braverman allegedly stabbed in a bar fight a year ago, was booked for investigation of attempted murder. Pasadena Superior Court Judge Charles C. Lee declared the mistrial on the grounds that Braverman would not recover from his wounds in time for the case to proceed, and that court officials and jurors may be called as witnesses in the courthouse stabbing.