You may remember in December 2008 when there were reports on an attack in New York City that left one brother dead from his skull being cracked open when it was hit with a baseball bat by one of two men who yelled racial and homophobic slurs prior to the attack. Somehow, a Brooklyn jury has found this to be neither a murder nor a hate crime. We have come so far in some ways, yet sadly we still have a long way to go. The saddest thing I see in this whole case is that these were brothers, not lovers, the fact that one was holding the other helping him stand as they walked home was the reason they were attacked. Our society is still so virulently anti-gay that not only can a crime like this be committed, it can still go unpunished.
NEW YORK — A man who smashed a beer bottle over the head of an Ecuadorean immigrant was convicted Thursday of manslaughter, but a jury decided he did not commit a hate crime.
Hakim Scott faces 25 years in prison on the manslaughter charge when he is sentenced June 9. The state Supreme Court jury in Brooklyn acquitted him of murder and hate crime counts. A second jury was deliberating charges for his co-defendant, Keith Phoenix.
Scott faced steeper prison time had he been convicted of hate crimes in the death of Jose Sucuzhanay in December 2008.
"For Hakim Scott, this was never about hate or prejudice and that's exactly what the jury came back with," said his attorney Craig Newman. He believed there would be an appeal.
Prosecutors and the Sucuzhanay family did not comment. Jorge Lopez Amaya, Consul General of Ecuador, said he would wait to speak until the second verdict, but praised the work of the prosecutors.
Scott was accused of breaking the bottle over the head of Sucuzhanay as he walked arm-and-arm with his brother, Romel, on a cold night in Brooklyn. The brothers were returning home from a bar; Jose was drunk, and Romel was helping him walk.
Prosecutors said Scott, 26, and Phoenix, 30, mistook the brothers for gay men, and yelled anti-Hispanic and anti-gay slurs at them. Scott smashed the bottle over Jose Sucuzhanay's head and chased after Romel with the broken bottle, while Phoenix beat Sucuzhanay with an aluminum baseball bat so badly he cracked open his skull, prosecutors said. Sucuzhanay died several days later at a hospital.
Phoenix has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter and attempted assault, all as hate crimes. His jury began deliberations Thursday evening.
Scott's actions may not have resulted in the death of the man he attacked, but to say this wasn't about hate is such a travesty of justice it makes me glad my spouse has decided to pursue a degree in law. We need more people in positions of education and leadership in our society that can influence both public policy and opinion towards a more just outcome.
Written by John Hosty-Grinnell