SALINAS, CA--In a move that surprised many within the
gay community, Judge John Phillips ruled today that the two charged with
beating a gay man in Monterey after asking him whether he was gay were not
guilty of a hate crime. Explaining his ruling, Judge Phillips said that
the two men would have taken any excuse to attack someone that night. "They
could have asked if he was Italian, a Jew, or a Dallas Cowboy fan,"
said Phillips.
The two men were found guilty of assault with a weapon other than a firearm (fists) and a misdemeanor battery charge.
The sentencing hearing will be held March 3rd in Salinas. The maximum sentence the two men can receive is felony probation and up to a year in jail. District Attorney Dennis LaBarbara said that because of both men's lack of a prior conviction, they would not have received a more severe punishment even if the trial had been held before a jury.
The victim, who still remains anonymous, said that he would take the case to civil court. His family and friends, including his father who had served as a judge for 15 years, expressed disbelief in the judge's ruling.
Judge Phillips said that he based his ruling on the two men's drunken and drugged state the night of the attack, and that they had threatened other non-gay people before the attack. He also cited the number of character witnesses provided by the defense who all said that they had never seen the two defendants, Jason Soboleski or Johnathon Maxon, intoxicated or participate in a fight since early childhood.
Members of the gay community who grew up in the area said after the trial that they would work to produce witnesses that would testify that Soboleski has been involved in numerous physical attacks for the civil trial to counter the defendants character witnesses' testimony.
Maxon's parents apologized to the victim after the trial. Maxon himself asked supporters from the gay community to convey his apologies to the victim. Soboleski had no comment on advice from his lawyer. Soboleski's father commented to television news reporters that he feared the felony conviction might affect his son's chances of getting a college scholarship.
Notes from yesterday's trial appear below.
| Judge: John M. Phillips Plaintiff: John Doe (identity is not being released) Defendants: Johnathon Maxon, Jason Soboleski Court: Monterey Superior Court, Part 1 Monterey County Courthouse, Church & Alisal, North wing, 3rd floor |
Today in Salinas the trial for Monterey's first alleged anti-gay hate crime trial began in Monterey County Superior Court.
Both the district attorney and the defense have delivered their closing arguments, and an verdict is expected Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.
Both defendants are charged with three counts: a felony hate crime, a felony assault with a weapon other than a firearm, and a misdemeanor battery charge. A deal between the district attorney and the defendants lawyers resulted in a non-jury trial; the maximum sentence the two defendants can receive is probation for the felony counts and up to one year in jail.
The prosecution produced two witnesses: the victim and an eyewitness who was visiting Monterey from Redding the night of the attack. Maxon's defense attorney attorney called Maxon to the stand and a security guard from the pool hall where the two men had been earlier on the night of the alleged assault. Soboleski did not take the stand.
Both defense lawyers produced a string of character witnesses for the two men, who all testified that they have never known either of the two men to be prejudiced against gay people, never seen them participate in a fight, and only rarely seen intoxicated.
In his closing argument, district attorney Dennis LaBarbara used a domestic violence analogy no doubt in response to the character witnesses' testimony. LaBarbara explained that even though a person may act one way around friends and relatives, that doesn't mean that they can act differently at other times. He said that the facts are simple: the two defendants asked the victim if he was gay, the victim said yes, and the defendants attacked him.
Both defense attorneys' closing arguments centered around the two men's drunken state and their reported lack of prior violent behavior or discriminatory behavior towards gays. They admitted that their clients were involved in the beating, but that it did not constitute a hate crime; nor was it severe enough to warrant the felony battery charge.
Gay women and men from Monterey and Salinas filled half of the courtroom, the other half being filled by Maxon and Soboleski's family and friends.
Locals news media was banned by the judge from videotaping or taking pictures in the courtroom.
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