Doctor’s health could throw off case of man charged with pistol whipping a former Jacksonville Jaguar and cheerleader

As much black and white, letter-of-the-law work goes on in the criminal court system, it’s sometimes easy to forget that everyone involved is human. And things happen in people’s lives. That’s evident in a bizarre twist in the case of a 22-year-old Jacksonville man accused of pistol whipping former Jacksonville Jaguar wide receiver Kassim Osgood and the cheerleader he was with in 2010, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. There are suggestions that the defendant, Julian Armond Bartletto, is not mentally fit to stand trial. The final hearing before Bartletto’s trial is scheduled for October, and it’s at that hearing that a doctor is scheduled to testify and discuss why he deems Bartletto competent and mentally fit to stand trial. But that doctor had a massive heart attack and it is not yet clear if he’ll be in any sort of physical condition to take the stand – especially in a high-pressure case like this one.

If the doctor cannot testify, the court will likely try to figure out when he might be physically up to such a task. If it’s going to be longer than the judge is comfortable with, he could have the option to assign a different doctor to the case. Prosecutors would undoubtedly be upset with that decision, especially because the competency is often an inexact science. And the state already has an opinion that favors its side in trying to prosecute Bartletto. Osgood and the cheerleader had been watching television in a second-floor game room of the cheerleader’s parents’ home when authorities said Bartletto came in pointing a gun with a plastic bag over his head, the newspaper reported. The cheerleader ran and ended up taking the man’s gun, while Osgood jumped from an open window and ran to a neighbor’s house and that person called 911. Bartletto is charged with two counts each of Jacksonville armed burglary with assault and kidnapping and single counts of Jacksonville aggravated assault, armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of all of the charges. His competency will be the key issue and, for now, it rests on the health of a doctor who declared Bartletto fit to stand trial.

If you or a loved one needs a Gun Crime Attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a free consultation. Our Duval County Violent Crimes Lawyer, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.