According to the friends of recently deceased Satender Singh, Singh and six of his friends were drinking and playfully dancing to Indian music. The events happened differently according to Michael D. Long – Aleksandr Shevchenko’s lawyer – who reports that Singh provoked Aleksandr and his friends by dancing lewdly with another man while other families and children were nearby. The gay, outdoor dance party led Aleksandr and his friend, Andrey Vusik, to confront Satender and his friends. The confrontation led to an outright brawl where Andrey punched Satender, which led to brain damage and Satender’s ultimate death. The state charged Aleksandr with disturbing the peace and simple assault for throwing a bottle at Satender and his friends. Avoiding arrest and prosecution, Andrey fled the country.
Aleksandr assaulted a gay man who was dancing with another man. Is this a hate-crime? The disparity in the two testimonies has apparently confused the Sacramento Superior Court’s jury on the definition of a hate-crime. The jury could not agree whether Satender’s homosexuality instigated Aleksandr’s involvement in the confrontation, which led to a devastating mistrial. The mistrial last Wednesday was an upset for not only the friends and family of Satender, but also those in the local gay community. Satender’s death and Aleksandr’s subsequent mistrial “has emerged as a symbol of tensions between local gays and some members of a Slavic evangelical movement that has publicly spread anti-gay rhetoric,” according to reporter Crystal Carreon.
Juror Patty Dowell said she could not vote to convict Aleksandr of the felony hate-crime enhancement. She questioned the testimony from those who were with Singh that day. “slurs were yelled from both sides…I don’t think it was hate.”
Juror Deedee Boland said she felt strongly that Aleksandr was guilty of a hate crime. “If you use racial comments or comment on someone’s sexual orientation, that is bias. … We’ve seen what hatred could do to a person.” Referencing Satendar’s postmortem photographs, she concluded, “This was the consequence, because he was gay.”
Aleksandr assaulted a gay man who was dancing with another man. Is this a hate-crime? The disparity in the two testimonies has apparently confused the Sacramento Superior Court’s jury on the definition of a hate-crime. The jury could not agree whether Satender’s homosexuality instigated Aleksandr’s involvement in the confrontation, which led to a devastating mistrial. The mistrial last Wednesday was an upset for not only the friends and family of Satender, but also those in the local gay community. Satender’s death and Aleksandr’s subsequent mistrial “has emerged as a symbol of tensions between local gays and some members of a Slavic evangelical movement that has publicly spread anti-gay rhetoric,” according to reporter Crystal Carreon.
Juror Patty Dowell said she could not vote to convict Aleksandr of the felony hate-crime enhancement. She questioned the testimony from those who were with Singh that day. “slurs were yelled from both sides…I don’t think it was hate.”
Juror Deedee Boland said she felt strongly that Aleksandr was guilty of a hate crime. “If you use racial comments or comment on someone’s sexual orientation, that is bias. … We’ve seen what hatred could do to a person.” Referencing Satendar’s postmortem photographs, she concluded, “This was the consequence, because he was gay.”
Read the entire article at: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1024340.html
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