Yesterday a major legal victory was won for victims of hate crimes in the state of New York. In October 2006, Michael Sandy was lured, robbed, beaten and later struck and killed by a car in an effort to escape his attackers.
NBJC blogged about the tragedy and also dedicated 6 pages in its quarterly magazine, NYANSAPO. The issue covered the crime and included articles dealing with hate crimes, internet dating, plus a memorial to Michael Sandy.
NBJC blog entries:
http://www.nbjcoalition.org/news/nbjc-mourns-the-passing-of.html
http://www.nbjcoalition.org/news/rally-and-memorial-for.html
Although Mr. Sandy was a black gay man lured from a gay sex website, the motivation of his attackers was actually for robbery. Hence there has been a lingering question of whether the New York state bias crime statute could actually be used to prosecute his attackers without a motivation of hate.
NBJC is happy to announce that judge, Jill Konviser of the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, stated that prosecutors only needed to prove that Sandy was targeted because of his sexual orientation to pursue charges under the state's Hate Crimes Act of 2000.
Full text from the New York Times is provided below:
No Hate Required for Hate Crime in Gay Man's Death, Judge Rules
Published: August 3, 2007 in NY York Times
Three men arrested in the death of a gay man who was beaten and then struck by a car during an October robbery attempt can be charged with hate crimes without evidence that they were motivated by hatred for gay men, a judge ruled yesterday.
The judge, Jill Konviser of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, said in a written order that prosecutors need show only that the victim was chosen because of his sexual orientation to pursue charges under the state's Hate Crimes Act of 2000. The law provides for longer sentences on conviction for crimes motivated by racial, religious and other characteristics of a victim.
The case concerns the killing of Michael Sandy, 29, a gay man who was lured to a meeting place in Sheepshead Bay last October, then driven a short distance to Plumb Beach, where he was beaten and chased into traffic on the Belt Parkway. He later died of his injuries.
The defendants, John Fox, Anthony Fortunato and Ilya Shurov, none older than 21, were charged with murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors said the men had contacted Mr. Sandy through a gay online chat room, selecting him because "this was an easy way to rob someone," according to court documents.
Defense lawyers sought to dismiss the enhanced charges, arguing that the defendants' conduct did not fit the scope of the state hate crimes statute and that the law itself was unconstitutionally vague.
In her ruling, Justice Konviser rejected both lines of argument.
"The grand jury evidence shows that this is not a case where hate crimes are charged simply because the victim just happened to be of a particular sexual orientation," Justice Konviser wrote.
"Rather, this is a case where the defendants deliberately set out to commit a violent crime against a man whom they intentionally selected because of his sexual orientation. Thus, the hate crimes charges in this case are consistent with the intent of the Legislature."
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