Serb Accused of Beating U.S. College Student into Coma Gets Trial Delay in Tense Case

BELGRADE, Serbia (CBS/AP) Serbian national Miladin Kovacevic, facing trial for inflicting "severe bodily harm with possible deadly consequences" on New York college student Bryan Steinhauer in May 2008, got a postponement Monday in Belgrade because Kovacevic's lawyer failed to show up.

Kovacevic, a former college basketball player who weighs 260 pounds, is accused of repeatedly kicking the 130-pound Steinhauer in the chest and head leaving him with permanent brain damage. Witnesses told police the two had exchanged harsh words in an upstate New York bar after Steinhauer danced with the girlfriend of one of Kovacevic's friends.

After Kovacevic was arrested and charged with the beating he jumped a $100,000 bond and fled to Serbia, allegedly with a fake passport obtained for him by two Serbian diplomats. Despite efforts by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Hillary Rodham Clinton, first when she was a U.S. senator and later as secretary of state, who tried to get Kovacevic extradited, the Serbian government refused.

The government even paid the Steinhauer family $900,000 as part of an agreement to try Kovacevic in Belgrade.

The case strained U.S.-Serbian relations when Belgrade said it legally could not extradite one of its citizens to face trial in another country, including the United States.

Kovacevic told a panel of 3 Serb judges Monday that he would not enter a plea without his lawyer being present. The lawyer had previously said he would be unable to attend the hearing because he was busy with other cases.

Schumer protested the judges' decision to postpone the trial, describing it as an attempt "to shield this thug from the consequences of his actions."

"I am increasingly concerned that Serbian authorities, Mr. Kovacevic, and his attorneys are playing legal games to evade justice," Schumer said in a statement.

Kovacevic faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.

A U.S. court sentenced another two men of Bosnian origin in January to two years each in prison for taking part in the assault. The two admitted kicking Steinhauer, each pleading guilty to one felony count of assault.

The two diplomats accused of helping Kovacevic flee the country were expected to be co-defendants with Kovacevic but one of them did not show at Monday's hearing.