The, “but I’m gay too,” defense
It seems that people who commit hate crimes will do just about anything to get out of them … from saying, “he or she hit on me,” or “he or she tried to molest me” to “well, it wasn’t a hate crime because I’m gay too.”
This latest excuse was used by a man who testified for the defense in the death of Michael Sandy, a gay man who ran into on-coming traffic after being chased by three attackers. He was hit by a car and killed.
(New York City)365gay.com - One of three men charged with murder as a hate crime in the death of Michael Sandy
told a Brooklyn jury Monday that he also was gay and only wanted to score some pot the night Sandy ran into the path of a car and died.
Anthony Fortunato, 21, said he was living a double life and wanted to come out to his friends, John Fox, 20, and Ilya Shurov, 21, who also are charged with the killing.
Fortunato testified that he though if he hooked up with a gay man, got some marijuana and got high with his friends he could better judge their reactions to getting high “with a homosexual.”
Asked by his attorney if he were gay, Fortunato said: “I could be homosexual or bisexual. … I was leading two complete double lives.”
Fortunato’s sexuality is key to his defense.
If he is able to convince the jury he is gay it would dissolve the prosecution argument that Sandy’s death was a hate crime. If he also is able to convince jurors that he did not intend for any harm to come to Sandy it would challenge the murder charge.
To back up his claims he is gay or bi, three older men who claimed to have sex with Fortunato also took the stand Monday. All three said they met Fortunato through internet chat rooms. Two of them said that when Fortunato arrived at their homes he was wearing a bra and women’s panties.
“To my shock he was wearing ladies’ undergarments, he had a bra, if I remember correctly, and a G-string,” one of the men, Henry Rudolph testified.
Prosecutor Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi paints a far different story of Fortunato and has told the court that the accused was the ringleader in a plot to .
She said that Fortunato had suggested to his buddies using a gay Internet dating site to lure a man to a secluded park and rob him. That man turned out to be Sandy (pictured), but the plot went wrong and Sandy ended up dead.
Fortunato arranged to meet Sandy at the far end of a parking lot at Plumb Beach, a well-known gay cruising spot in Brooklyn October 8, 2006. When he arrived he was set upon by the others.
Sandy bolted for the nearby Belt Parkway with his attackers in close pursuit.
They caught up with him in one lane of the highway and as Sandy broke free he was struck by a car, sustaining massive head injuries.
The 28 year old died a week later after his family instructed doctors to take him off a life-support machine.
All this guy has to do is convince the jury that he is gay and poof, the hate crime disappears. I have a problem with this whole scenario. I’m no lawyer but even I can see flaws in this guy’s story.
First, if Fortunato was gay and afraid of his friends reaction then why did he think getting high with them would make it any better? Did he think that it would calm them down so they didn’t beat on him? Because if he was afraid they’d beat on him that means that he’s seen them do it before. And he probably even participated.
Second, Fortunato said that he met men over the Internet to hook up with. These men testified that Fortunato arrived at their homes wearing female clothing. Last time I checked, wearing female clothing wasn’t an indication of being gay, but having a certain fetish or fantasy.
Third, if Fortunato’s intent really was to get Sandy to meet up with him and his friend to smoke a little weed and hang out, why would Sandy take off running so fast? And why, after they caught up with him, did he break free only to run into a lane of on-coming traffic.
Something smells a little off in this story, and it’s not the pot. I hope the jury doesn’t fall for it. Because if they do, I’d have to wonder if they were token a little something something themselves. If this works, you’re going to see the, “But I’m gay too,” defense popping up everywhere.
michael sandy, hate crime, anthony fortunato, henry rudolph, I’m gay too defense, plumb beach
October 2nd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Yeah, but just think, these guys are going to have to live with it their whole lives, after the “coming out” being so public. Gays who don’t take kindly to that offense won’t have any compunctions against pressing the guys when no one’s around, I should think.
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 am
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