The Real Housewives of New Jersey are known for their colorful drama. Teresa Giudice’s arrest, prison sentence and marital problems have fueled juicy storylines for years. Danielle Staub creates mayhem wherever she goes. Some RHONJ ladies, like Melissa Gorga, add to the mix by stirring the pot to make their more mundane lives seem exciting and relevant.
Housewife lives can be even more dramatic off camera. In May of 2017, former RHONJ Housewife Dina Manzo and her then-boyfriend David Cantin were the victims of a brutal home invasion reportedly perpetrated by two men. Besides having cash and jewelry stolen, David was allegedly hit with a baseball bat and Dina was punched in the attack. A man named James Mainello was eventually arrested for the purported crime in May of 2019 and was indicted a few months later. Now, surprising new information has come out about the upcoming trial.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Mainello’s defense attorney Marco Laracca is calling the details of the attack into question. The attorney has a defense witness lined up who is apparently ready to dispute that David was ever beaten with a baseball bat.
Laracca is planning to call Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Peter DiPaolo to testify. He will reportedly state that it is “highly unlikely” that a baseball bat caused David’s injuries.
RELATED: Dina Manzo’s Alleged Attacker In Home Invasion Is Indicted After Punching Her & Stealing Jewelry
The documents further detail that Dr. DiPaolo says that baseball bat injuries are “very well-described in the trauma literature” and “typically result in skull and orbital fractures when someone’s struck in the head or face.”
Dr. DiPaolo will reportedly state that David did not sustain skull and orbital fractures, according to the photos and medical records he reviewed. David had reported he was hit with a bat “in the leg, knee, arm, back and face.”
RELATED: Arrest Made In Dina Manzo 2017 Home Invasion; Dina Admits She Is Already Married
TMZ reached out to Dina and David. Their attorney Andrew Brettler told TMZ, “This doctor did not even examine Mr. Cantin. He was hired by the defendant. For him to opine on Mr. Cantin’s injuries is ludicrous. My clients were the victims of a violent attack.”
According to Page Six, a Monmouth County Press release from last summer stated that Mainello was hit with multiple charges in the case, including “first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree aggravated assault, third-degree theft, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and third-degree criminal restraint.”
RELATED: Dina Manzo Tweets About Getting Her Nose Fixed
The entire situation must be very distressing for Dina and David, who have married since the attack. The upcoming trial means they will have to relive the nightmare again. A home invasion is one of the most violating things that can happen to anyone–if you can’t feel secure in your home, where can you feel safe?
TELL US–WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE? DO YOU MISS DINA AS A HOUSEWIFE?
[Photo Credit: Instagram]
