Man who attacked physician found sane

PASADENA - A 74-year-old Monterey Park man faces life in prison after a Pasadena jury determined Monday he was sane when he attempted to kill his cardiologist in November 2006.Jurors deliberated less than half a day before returning the sanity phase verdict, said Deputy District Attorney Russell Moore of the Pasadena Branch office. Pasadena Superior Court Judge Suzette Clover is expected to sentence Mike Du Trieu on July 30. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. The same jury convicted Trieu late Friday, after two hours of deliberations, of one count of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder. Jurors also found true special allegations that Trieu personally used a knife and inflicted bodily injury on the victim, Dr. Mohamed Latif, causing permanent paralysis. Latif, a cardiologist since the 1960s, had treated Trieu for more than a decade before the Nov. 14, 2006 attack. On that day, a routine consultation at his Glendale office went awry when Trieu, without provocation, drew a pocket knife and began stabbing the doctor, the district attorney's office said. Latif sustained multiple stab wounds, including injuries to his back, front left shoulder and face. Trieu claimed that the doctor killed his mother in 1994 and the assault was in retaliation for her death. There was no evidence, however, that the doctor ever treated Trieu's mother, according to the prosecutor. Because of the severity of Latif's injuries, he may now only perform limited functions in his medical practice.

********** Published: July 15, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 13