GA: attorney hostage released unharmed

Family and friends of a local lawyer are thankful after a more-than 24 hour hostage standoff with police comes to an end in Statesboro. Two people were arrested Tuesday after police say they took attorney Mike Hostilo hostage... 43-year-old Robert Brower and his wife Connie surrendered just before 10:00am Tuesday morning...

Of course you know that all of Brower's problems were his lawyer's fault:

Through the daylong drama, Brower mainly wanted a new hearing on a charge stemming from a 1995 assault he says was unfounded...

So much for finality of judgments. Guys like Brower make judges reluctant to take Alford pleas. Strangely, his victim thinks the charge had a factual basis:

...Eleven years ago, police arrested Brower for attacking his brother-in-law with a hammer. He pled guilty, but has denied he did it ever since. And his says his attorney--Michael Hostilo--did him wrong.

...Brower said he didn't attack Billy. But Deborah Eskins-Nessmith says she saw him do it. "Billy's blood is on the hammer, the police officers have the hammer, they had the evidence," she said. "He even requested to have the hammer returned to him. To me it sounds like he's guilty."

Brower hasn't given up his contention that he was wronged. That was obvious when he took his former lawyer in the case hostage yesterday. "When I heard it was him, I was like, 'Why, after all this time?'" said Deborah.

This isn't the first time Brower has protested this case. In 1997, he staged a hunger strike outside the Chatham County Courthouse. But it didn't last long. Police came and asked him to leave. "Stupidity," said Deborah. "Get out of jail comes up here and decides he's not going to eat because he was wrongly accused."

There's a link to news video of the end of the siege on this page.

Do I lose my public defender card if I say it wouldn't break my heart if they throw the book at this guy?