DAS TO FACE A FAMILIAR FOE FROM OTHER SIDE OF THE COURTROOM.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: JOHN CAHER Staff writer

ALBANY -- Like a tiger braced for a pounce, ``The Kat'' is back.

After a two-year absence from major criminal trials, Michael D. Katzer is again in court with a murder suspect, but now he's at the defense table opposite two of District Attorney Sol Greenberg's heavy hitters.

Katzer, the former assistant district attorney whose nickname is as much a play on his style as his name, had a 14-0 record prosecuting murder cases, and now he's hoping to take one for the defense.

But Katzer, now in private practice, first has to get past prosecutors Cheryl F. Coleman and Cynthia Preiser, whose own skills were evident …