Crime

Trial By Combat Attorney Going To Need Those Fighting Skills In Prison

It's been a crazy few years for Richard Luthmann.

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Richard Luthmann stormed into our hearts back in 2015 when the Staten Island lawyer told the world that he wanted to settle claims against him through trial by combat. Apparently, trial by combat truly is a viable alternative dispute resolution that can be ordered by a state judge because New York can’t be bothered to clean up its code, and Luthmann felt those accusing him of advising a client to fraudulently transfer assets needed to man up or designate themselves a champion.

On a serious note, if you find it hard to believe that trial by combat could really happen in the United States in 2019, it’s worth noting that it does functionally exist in some states, it’s just called “Stand Your Ground.” Who provoked the attack and who acted in self-defense? Whoever walks out alive gives you all the answers you need! It’s all the barbarism of medieval justice but now with guns.

In Luthmann’s quest for a Game of Thrones moment, he even went so far as to show off his skills with his weapon of choice — a plastic Mjolnir.

Maybe we should’ve let this guy have his combat?

But he failed to secure a trial by combat in that case and that should have been the last the mainstream media saw of him until he managed to reenter the news when he was indicted by the feds for kidnapping.

The feds did not offer a trial by combat.

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Now Luthmann’s been sentenced to four years for his role in a plot to sell scrap metal to Chinese companies in a scheme that involved installing the beggar outside his office as president of a shell corporation and threatening people with pistols. As an aside, that’s a hell of a step up from a plastic hammer.

With time served, he expects to be out in 20 months.

SI attorney gets 4 years for running scrap metal fraud scheme [NY Post]

Earlier: Judge Admits Trial By Combat Is Available In New York… Then Declines To Order It
Is Trial By Combat Coming To NYC?
Trial By Combat Lawyer Indicted In Federal Kidnapping Scheme
Trial By Combat: It Was Real And Spectacular

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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