With the jurors sworn in and ready to go, a homicide defendant was granted a mistrial today, before the case opened, due to injuries he suffered en route to court.

Sgt. Douglas E. Clark of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office said Foteos Soutemenides, 29, of Elliott, had an altercation with a deputy sheriff in a holding area this morning after he was transported over from the jail. Mr. Soutemenides complained that his leg irons were too tight. Sgt. Clark said Deputy Keith H. Luffey checked them and said they were OK. Then, the deputy said, the uncuffed inmate verbally threatened him and made an aggressive motion toward him. Deputy Luffey and two others subdued the defendant and put him in an isolation cell.

When he was brought up to court, Mr. Soutemenides told Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani that he was having trouble breathing and thought he might have sustained a broken rib. The judge asked for him to be checked out. UPMC Mercy Hospital performed X-rays and diagnosed him with bruised ribs and an abrasion to the chest

Judge Mariani later granted a defense motion by attorney Robert Foreman requesting a retrial, based on the fact that it would be difficult for the defendant to sit through the trial. His trial for the Jan. 21 stabbing death of 71-year-old Richard Revis in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Mount Oliver is now set for Feb. 17.

In the meantime, Sgt. Clark said Mr. Soutemenides would be arraigned on charges of assault by a prisoner, harassment, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct stemming from the altercation while in custody today.