DELHI _ "It was self-defense, Your Honor," murder suspect Jose Antonio Lambert said just before he was led from Delaware County Court on Tuesday morning.
Lambert had just been arraigned on a second-degree murder charge related to the death of a SUNY Delhi student during a fight on campus.
Lambert, 22, of New York City, was arraigned on a sealed indictment handed up May 2 by a grand jury.
He is charged in the death of Tyshawn Bierria, 22, of Queens, who died May 1 after being stabbed multiple times on the State University College of Technology at Delhi campus in the early hours of April 27.
In court Tuesday, Delaware County Judge Carl Becker asked Lambert if he could afford an attorney.
Lambert first indicated he wanted to talk to family and friends about hiring an attorney and then asked if he could have a public defender.
When Becker questioned Lambert about his financial status, Lambert said he had $3,000 in cash and owns a 1999 Mazda Protege.
"That's not going to get you an attorney to defend you on murder two," Becker said.
Becker said he would assign an attorney and that he was sending Lambert to jail without bail until a lawyer is assigned.
Becker added that he would not schedule a trial date until Lambert has legal representation.
Lambert, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds, appeared in court in a green jail-issued jumpsuit. He has a tattoo of a piano keyboard that wraps around his right forearm.
Lambert is expected to reappear Monday to continue his arraignment, according to a court official.
Lambert had been held at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, N.J., since May 2 on an arrest warrant issued by Delhi Town Justice Richard Gumo. Lambert was released to the custody of New York state police on Monday.
Four other men had been charged with first-degree gang assault, a class B felony, and one count of second-degree attempted murder, a class B felony, in connection with Bierria's death, but they were all released after a grand jury issued no bills for a lack of evidence.
Bierria was a second-year individual studies major with enough credits to graduate. He was injured during what appears to have been a brawl with several people at about 4:30 a.m. April 27 near Russell Hall, according to officials, and died at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown.
Bierria's mother, Sharon Bierria, said during a recent prayer service that her son was stabbed after he heard people fighting near his dormitory and went outside to see what was happening.
Bierria was a star basketball player in high school who was recruited to play ball for SUNY Delhi, according to Joel Smith, SUNY Delhi spokesman.
Smith said previously that Bierria was a quiet man who loved playing basketball and working out. Smith said Bierria spent hours in the fitness center on the weight-training equipment.
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
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