Smelly sneaker fails to revive fainted witness

Falguni Patel was just a little ways into her testimony on Wednesday in New Port Richey courtroom, Florida, when it all became too much. The prosecutor showed Patel the knife used by the masked robber who held up her convenience store in 2009. Patel, already shaking and on the verge of tears, flopped back in the witness chair, unconscious.

Circuit Judge Michael Andrews had the jury taken out of the room. A bailiff called for an ambulance. Then everyone waited. It was the defendant who finally spoke up, wondering aloud if Patel was breathing. She was. She had fainted.



Another bailiff brought in a family member, who in an apparent attempt to revive Patel, removed a sneaker and held it up to her face, perhaps like smelling salts. The woman told bailiffs that Patel is prone to fainting and she frequently uses this technique to revive her. Patel didn't wake up.

After paramedics arrived, Patel was wheeled out on a stretcher and reported to be resting at home in the afternoon. She is expected to take the stand again later. This all happened during day two of the trial of 32-year-old Morgan Armstrong, charged with armed robbery in the October 2009 holdup at Beverages Plus on State Road 52 in Hudson.