Comment on "Knock out" defendant asks judge for freedom

The man charged with a hate crime for allegedly breaking the jaw of an elderly black man to make a "knock out" video wants a judge to set him free. Barrett was indicted on charges that accuse him of video recording himself at a Katy shopping center in November while slugging the 79-year-old man, whose jaw was broken in two places, and yelling, "knock out baby." Similar "knock out" videos spread on the Web last year and often involved teenagers punching unsuspecting victims in the face, with the goal being to knock them out in a single punch. Barrett used his cellular phone to make a video of himself searching out a victim at a shopping mall and other places, according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.