The Office of the Public Defender for Albany County says a man charged with manslaughter in a strangulation and slashing death -- and who was recently released from jail -- will be connected with “the services and treatment that he needs.”
Paul Barbaritano had been held in Albany County jail since July. Charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of an Albany woman, he was released this week under the state’s new criminal justice laws that went into effect January first.
Barbaritano was reportedly taking drugs with 29-year-old Nicole Jennings before the woman’s death.
The Public Defender says Barbaritano became alarmed when a karate belt Jennings had placed around her neck was causing her to choke, and that Barbaritano accidentally cut her neck when trying to save her life.
When police arrived at the scene, they also found Barbaritano unconscious and bleeding from self-inflicted wounds.
Some area public officials have used the case as an example against the newly-implemented criminal justice reforms, which eliminated cash bail for dozens of offenses.
