Goetz Lawyer Beaten With Bat, Robbed

Lawyer Barry Slotnick, who successfully defended subway gunman Bernhard H. Goetz, was beaten by a baseball bat-wielding assailant and robbed of his watch Thursday, authorities said.

“I don’t know who did it. I was hit from the back, I saw absolutely nothing,” Slotnick told reporters outside Beekman Downtown Hospital.

Slotnick suffered a broken left wrist, cuts and bruises on both arms and his back and a puncture wound to his right hand in the assault outside the building across from City Hall, Dr. Ronald Krinick said.

Dr. Andrew Patane, who treated Slotnick in the emergency room, said the lawyer told him the attacker had used a baseball bat. Slotnick told reporters the blunt object was wrapped in newspaper.

Police Have No Motive

“It didn’t have the classic indications of a robbery,” Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo said. “At this point, we are at a loss for motive.”

Slotnick said Goetz had called his office after the incident, saying he hoped the attack was not related to the trial.

“I could understand there are people who may be angry at the Goetz verdict,” Slotnick said before leaving the hospital. “But I would hope it was a random incident.”

The attacker, wearing a motorcycle helmet, reportedly chased Slotnick into City Hall Park before jumping aboard a waiting motorcycle driven by a second man. Both men fled.

Slotnick, who also represents members of the Gambino crime family, received national attention for representing Goetz.

Goetz shot four teen-agers on a Manhattan subway, saying he feared they were about to mug him. He was charged with attempted murder but was convicted of a single weapons charge.