Disgraced Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was “sick and confused” and may have thought he was boarding a Bay Area Rapid Transit train when he instead caught an Amtrak train that took him out of California, where he had a court date, his attorney said Tuesday in Colorado.
Hsu was arrested in Grand Junction Sept. 6 after he failed to show up for a court appearance in California for a 1991 grand-theft case that resulted in a conviction.
His attorney Jason Booth was in Colorado on Tuesday on the eve of a court hearing at which Hsu was expected to waive extradition, officially ending his 15-year run from California authorities.
Booth said Hsu intended to appear for his court date in California but may have mistakenly boarded a train out of state.
“That’s what appears to be how it happened,” Booth said. “He was disoriented at the time. … We believe he suffered a psychological, mental or physical breakdown. How that was caused I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.”
