Trial in case of slain German socialite postponed

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has indefinitely postponed the trial of a German man charged in his wife's death after a doctor said the defendant remains at imminent risk of death.

Albrecht Muth has been hospitalized since January after he began starving himself.

A doctor testified Tuesday that although Muth ate and drank over the weekend, he remains unable to sit or stand on his own and can't be brought to the courtroom for his trial. The trial in D.C. Superior Court was scheduled to begin Monday, but Judge Russell Canan postponed it after a prosecutor and defense lawyer argued against moving forward.

Muth is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2011 death of 91-year-old Viola Drath, a German journalist and socialite. He has denied guilt.