Son of former aide to the first lady of NYC has day in court

EDGEWATER, New Jersey (WABC) -- This case made headlines because it involves the son of a former aide to New York City's first lady. Racheal Noerdlinger left the office due to her son's legal issues. In early February of last year, he was accused in the death of a teenager in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Friday morning, the most serious charge in the case was dropped and the remaining charges could be removed in the future. Khari Noerdlinger was accused of stabbing a 16-year-old to death in what prosecutors called an armed robbery. Noerdlinger claimed this was a case of self-defense.

The victim was part of a group that attacked Noerdlinger. A video of the incident surfaced showing Noerdlinger being jumped by one of his attackers and the other three piling on the fray.

It appears the attackers had weapons, including a baseball bat. The defense claimed the other two attackers admitted to carrying knives. Khari Noerdlinger is clearly on the ground being pummeled. But the scuffle ends when Noerdlinger slashes the 16-year-old and he dies.

The defense claims that the prosecutor knew Khari was the victim all along but proceeded with the charges after the lead detective neglected to tell the grand jury about several important facts.

"They flat out lied" according to defense attorney Jeff Lichtman. He called this case a "lynching" because the lead state attorney and the detective apparently knew that Khari Noerdlinger was not the initial attacker.

Rachael Noerdlinger spoke about her son's past 19 months saying it's been tough to handle. She said this is not a time to celebrate. She has a history of working with victims of violence and false allegations but claims this is the worst case of abuse by prosecutors she has seen.

Khari Noerdlinger is still facing a weapons charge and hindering apprehension but hopes those charges will be dismissed in the future.