Violent Beating Of "Gay" Man Described As Brooklyn Murder/Hate Crime Trial Begins

[Bluebear]

The Ecuadorian brothers were evidently arm-in-arm and met this fate...

===

Nearly a year and a half after Jose Sucuzhanay was fatally beaten in Brooklyn, his accused killers are on trial. Prosecutors said that Keith Scott and Hakim Phoenix mistook Sucuzhanay and his brother for a gay couple (the brothers were tipsy) and shouted gay and racial epithets at them. Prosecutor Joshua Hanshaft said that Phoenix actually returned to deliver the final, fatal blows: Phoenix beat Sucuzhany "over and over again with the bat held high above his head... Jose tried to get up... and (Phoenix) came back with the bat and beat him two to three times on the head, cracking his skull wide open."

Prosecutors say that Scott initially hit Sucuzhanay, an Ecuadorian immigrant who had a realty business in Brooklyn, with a bottle and then chased Romel Sucuzhanay with the remaining shards. However, Scott's lawyer said his client never meant to "seriously physically harm anyone... This was never about hate. This was never about prejudice," while Phoenix's lawyer mentioned how all four men had been drinking, "Does anything good happen at 3 o’clock on a Sunday morning in 30-degree weather, with people with bellies full of booze?" Scott and Phoenix face charges of murder as a hate crime and could face life in prison if convicted.

A cab driver, Davi Almonte, witnessed the beating and called the police with the license plate number for the SUV that Scott and Phoenix were in. Almonte testified that the beatings were loud, “I didn’t want to see the head explode when it was hit. I could hear the impact."

http://gothamist.com/2010/04/21/brooklyn_hate_crime_murder_trial_be.php

[Bluebear]

1. edit typo

[Bluebear]

2. zzzz

[gratuitous]

3. The defense is going with intent?

After the shattered bottle and the baseball bat, it's going to be a tough sell to a jury that they didn't mean to do any serious physical harm. I hope Keith and Hakim are comfortable with the concept of viewing the rest of their lives through jail bars.

[flvegan]

4. Mmmm...life in prison.

I just got a really warm sensation thinking of these two bigots rotting out the rest of their lives, in fear, in some shithole somewhere.

*happy noises*

[Withywindle]

5. Fucking pieces of shit.

This is the best the LAWYER can do?!?!?

"Does anything good happen at 3 o’clock on a Sunday morning in 30-degree weather, with people with bellies full of booze?"


:puke:

[QC]

6. Hard to believe that people are unreccing this.

Actually, on second thought, it's not hard to believe at all.

[FreeState]

7. .

[csziggy]

8. Thank you Mr. Almonte - with you, these murderers would probably be free

I hope they spend the rest of their miserable lives locked up.

[QC]

9. Kick!

[AuntPatsy]

10. In this day and age, that people still find themselves victims of such hate filled horrific crimes

is a testament that any and all who oppose equal rights for "all" citizens in this country regardless of race,creed, color, and or personal lifestyle choices are out and out wrong and just as guilty as these two monstrous beings for allowing homophobia and racist and intolerable attitudes to be a part of our political discourse be it at the washington level or at the level of our present religious institutions..

Any and all who do not openly denounce such intolerant views that lead to such crimes are guilty of aiding and abetting in the above horrific crime regardless of how those personally pointed at attempt to justify themselves and their words and actions to date.