A man who allegedly stabbed two people in a Somerset hotel room acted in self-defense, with drugs at the heart of the fight, his defense lawyer argued in Bristol County Superior Court on Sept. 25.

 

Kyle Barboza, 43, faces felony charges with sentences ranging up to 15 years in connection with that attack.

 

At his Sept. 25 arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to eight charges stemming from two separate incidents over the summer. Judge Thomas J. Perrino ordered him held without bail pending trial after a dangerousness hearing the same day.

 

“Before you is a 43-year-old man with a 19-page record. He has a history of violence,” said prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Nicole Cheney.

 

Barboza faces indictments on two counts of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and two counts of assault with intent to commit assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, all felonies stemming from the Aug. 1 Somerset stabbing.

 

He was also indicted on older charges from a July 5 incident: one misdemeanor assault and battery charge, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of intimidating a witness, juror, police officer or court official.

 

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