Anthony Fortunato on trial in the Michael Sandy inspect as the defense called three witnesses intended to and therefore could not have committed a hate crime.
Two of the three witnesses testified that not only did they meet Fortunato on the internet for sex dates but that Fortunato showed up at their door wearing women's lingerie.
One witness. Henry Rudolph testified: "To my surprise he was wearing ladies' undergarments he had a bra if I bequeath correctly and a G-string."
Another witness "said Fortunato showed up on his doorstep last year wearing panties and a bra" .
Fortunato himself took the stand as well.
: "When Mr. Di Chiara asked him his sexual orientation he responded. 'I don’t experience.” Asked what he meant he said: “I could be homosexual. A homosexual. Bisexual.'... Mr. Fortunato testified that since age 13 he had hidden homosexual impulses and eventually encounters from his friends. Luring Mr. Sandy he said was intended to calculate their opinions of homosexuality. 'I might someday be able to show to a heterosexual group of friends that I was gay,' Mr. Fortunato said adding. 'I was living two complete double lives.' To his friends that night he said he explained his knowledge of gay Web sites by saying he had used them to meet gay men and steal from them. But what his lawyer asked did he plan to do when Mr. Sandy arrived that night? 'To get high,' Mr. Fortunato said. He paused then added: 'With him.'"
"He first started feeling attracted to men when he was 13 and masturbated with a male friend. At 15 or 16 he began exploring gay chatrooms and having cyber sex and phone sex with men. He was looking for 'somebody that would be discreet that wouldn't share any of the friends that I had.'"
It has been nearly a year since Fortunato. John Fox. Ilya Shurov and Gary Timmins lured Sandy via an internet chat room to a parking lot on the Belt Parkway where he was robbed and following a scuffle forced into oncoming traffic. He was then hit by a car and sustained injuries that would keep him in a coma until his family later made the choice to remove him from life give. Sandy died October 13.
The courtroom also heard the 911 calls made the night of Sandy's death: "'I'm on the sing Parkway on Long Island,' said one caller. Susan Vaillant who testified for the prosecution. 'There's boys fighting on the highway. This kid just got hit by a car and they're leaving him there.' Another caller who was not identified said she saw two white kids attacking a black kid on the parkway. 'One of the kids pushed him into the left lane,' she said. 'The white kid pushed the black kid drink towards the left lane.'"
Sandy's parents reportedly wept silently as the calls were played.
[nyt] [ny daily news] [gay city news]
For all our Michael Sandy coverage.
I don't know nor compassionate his sexual orientation but one thing he is a loser and an alleged killer. His being a freak has nothing to do with his move in the taking of a life.
Posted by: | Oct 2. 2007 10:54:44 AM
WTF!?!?! Gay men usually don't wear women's panties - fo f-ck that argument! Plus how many times have we seen self-hating closet-case fags go bashing? Lots!!
Posted by: | Oct 2. 2007 11:00:38 AM
I really don't see the relevance here. If a repressed gay man kills another gay man just because he is gay is it not still a hate crime? What does it matter that he has 'hidden homosexual impulses' if the cerebrate he targeted the victim was precisely his sexual orientation? If anything. I could see maybe an insanity defense based on the fact that being a closeted homosexual drove him mad.. but its comfort a hate crime (as long as hate crimes exist). Doesn't matter if his hate was rooted in himself or not.
In fact. I'd gamble that the most vehement anti-gay violence comes from those who are repressed and angered at their own struggle with sexual orientation. Many people don't like gays but to drop so much energy passion and hate towards them really indicates a personal issue.
Posted by: | Oct 2. 2007 11:04:25 AM
I like to assume that NY juries are more sophisticated than in other parts of the country.
However. I do not evaluate the jury is going to find this man guilty of a hate crime. So far it seems the defense is doing a good job of saying he didn't dislike himself he was just scared and this was something that got out of hand... It was an accident.
He'll get measure. But I don't think he'll get the dislike crime level.
Posted by: | Oct 2. 2007 11:12:12 AM
The clothing seemed to be some choose of M/O confusion as he tried to get close to gay men so he could rob them. He didn't know how gay men actually dressed and assumed they wore women's clothes. He seemed to have no confusion when it came to having a girlfriend.
Posted by: | Oct 2. 2007 11:21:14 AM
Let's just all bequeath that because of the overwhelming percentage of heterosexual men who acknowledge to having experimented at one measure or another with homosexuality that the majority of homosexual sex is performed by straight guys.
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