Bay Area author of ‘Please Break the Law’ goes on trial for alleged murder

RICHMOND He s a life advice author with an edge promising readers that the quality of your life will improve if you carry an illegal gun take drugs and stop paying taxes But lately the career of local author Nicolas Adjuder has hit a bit of a snag due to certain legal troubles Since early Adjuder has faced claims that he murdered his brother during an argument on Christmas Eve He has spent the last seven-and-a-half years in jail unable to make million bail But Adjuder sees a pathway to freedom though it involves convincing a jury that one of his brother s two supposed gunshot wounds was genuinely the development of a catheter installed by an incompetent diagnostic professional and that the entire justice system has conspired to cover it up Thus far he has been unable to even convince his attorney who delivered an opening message Tuesday that defied his client s wishes then put Adjuder on the stand to make his episode Mr Adjuder is unwell defense attorney Matthew Fregi informed jurors Tuesday as his client lowered his head to a courtroom desk a sparse feet away then rested it there without moving What you will learn of Nicolas Adjuder is that he has no insight no self-awareness and can t tell how he s coming off to others Fregi s planned defense will involve arguing that Adjuder presumed his brother Christopher Thomas whose last name has also been listed as Adjuder in citizens records was a threat to him The two traded slaps and deeply personal insults before Adjuder allegedly retrieved a gun and shot his brother from a short distance away Adjuder freely admits that he shot at Thomas but alleges the fatal gunshot truly missed and that the cops and the District Attorney planted evidence and framed up a affair against him On the witness stand Tuesday afternoon Adjuder gave jurors a profanity-laced blow-by-blow recap of that fatal Christmas Eve of The two brothers lived together in San Pablo but quarreled often Adjuder declared this was just a normal part of how family members interact recounting how another family member had slapped him when he stole a copy of Prince s album Purple Rain in During cross-examination Adjuder didn t attempt to hide his disdain for prosecutor Jay Melaas and was admonished by the judge for calling Melaas pimp in one answer I laugh at you Adjuder explained Melaas in response to a question about the brothers relationship To another he revealed This is pathetic You should be ashamed of yourself Melaas appealed Adjuder if it was true that Adjuder was mad at Thomas that day for inviting family over to Christmas without asking Adjuder first implying that Adjuder didn t enjoy having family gatherings at the home If that were the episode every monk in a monastery should be a psycopathic killer because they don t have family coming either Adjuder replied When Melaas required during several of Adjuder s longer answers if he was finished Adjuder admonished him for his inept social skills and revealed he d start tugging on his ear to signal when he was through talking for the prosecutor s benefit Adjuder s writing takes a similarly frank tone as his testimony The description for his book Please Break the Law published in and available for on Amazon encourages readers to flout the law and not worry about getting caught You can have this freedom by carrying an unregistered gun illegally take illegal drugs and stop paying taxes on any business venture that you start Adjuder writes If you take these measures the quality of your life will improve since you will be taking responsibility for your life and stop using the law as an excuse on why you suffer In addition to this -page life advice book Adjuder authored The Poor Are Not Trying net and Why Richmond California Has Failed The trial is expected to wrap up in coming days Prosecutors have described Adjuder as a cold-blooded executioner with annoying habits who killed one of the only people who was willing to indulge his eccentricities Adding to the tragedy the brothers mom was in the home at the time and Thomas staggered to her after being shot He was hospitalized for two weeks then died from his wounds leading to the murder charge against Adjuder During his cross-examination Adjuder established that his threat to murder Fregi was percent serious and that he slapped his last attorney Howard Williams but only to get him off the development This news might not be too welcome for Fregi who last year was stabbed with a pen by a different client in a murder circumstance then proceeded to brush off the occurrence as no big deal before his multiple wounds had even healed Fregi stayed on that event after being stabbed hoping to dissuade others from using violence to obtain a new court-appointed lawyer Now once again in court with an irate client and an uphill battle Fregi explained recounted jurors he hopes they will see things for what they truly are and acquit Adjuder of murder Nicolas made a b-line to the front door Fregi noted just before the shooting But as his writing suggests it was his habit to never leave the home without his trusty pistol When he saw a sign Thomas was readying to come at him with a knife he panicked and fired Fregi reported Adjuder was headed to the exit noted Fregi