State District Judge Michael Vigil sentenced Cecily Gonzalez, 17, to a year in the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department for taking part in the beating. Gonzalez, who faced a maximum of two years in CYFD custody, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and false imprisonment but wasn't eligible for a hate-crime enhancement of an extra year because she was sentenced as a juvenile.

...

Uriah Smith, 18, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and was sentenced to four years in prison. Prosecutor Donna Dagnall said everyone involved identified Smith as the leader of the attack, though Smith's attorney said his client never battered the victim.

Ellen Russill, a juvenile probation officer, said a diagnostic exam on Smith found he has psychotic tendencies, possible personality disorders and wasn't amenable to treatment in the juvenile system.

Noting that Smith requested adult sanctions, Dagnall said Smith's report was one of the most frightening she'd ever read. She also said that Smith considered shoving a broomstick up the victim's rectum but decided against it because he thought people might consider him gay.

"There's something seriously wrong with Mr. Smith," Dagnall said. "He knows right from wrong and does wrong anyway."

Edgewood: Four indicted in gay-bashing case



Note that the minors accused in this case, Cecily Gonzales (16) and Uriah Smith (17), have been indicted as adults. Leroy Segura is reportedly 19, while William York is 21.

The Free New Mexican is reporting that bond for each of the two adults accused in this case has been set at $100,000 cash.

Something that seems to have slipped everyone's notice is the judge in this case -- it's State District Judge Michael Vigil, whom we have read about before.



While the Free New Mexican gets a kudo for printing the word (so many other news outlets are just too shy), I have to rescind it. "Joto" most assuredly does not mean "gay" in Spanish. It means "faggot." There is as much a difference between the two words in Spanish as there is in English.

The New Mexico bashers were in court for their probable cause hearing.

Update on the New Mexico case: More arrests

THE NEW MEXICAN



You may recall that this similarly hateful case also took place in Santa Fe, a tad over a year ago.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/11159.html
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/11120.html
http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2006/04/07/2
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/45172.html
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/45154.html

And it doesn't bode well.

A minor addendum to the New Mexico hate crime story --



(The emphasis is mine.)

Wow. A whole extra year. Sure is a good thing New Mexico is one of the states with a hate crime law, isn't it?

KOBTV offers a little more on the story.



May all the gods preserve me from str8 people.

New Mexico Bashing
Free New Mexican



There is much more about this horrific case at the link. The details are just mind-boggling.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, hoping to prod Detroit police into reopening the case, posted a $25,000 reward Tuesday for information on the circumstances surrounding the death of gay senior citizen Andrew Anthos.

The wheelchair user did not see the attack but provided a description of a man at the scene that police used to develop a sketch of a suspect, Detroit police spokesman Leon Rahmaan told reporters.

To view a large version of the police sketch, go to

www.tri.org/violence/anthos_killer_sketch_lg.jpg.

WASHINGTON, March 29 — Detroit police have closed their investigation into the Feb. 23 death of Andrew Anthos, 72, after the Wayne County medical examiner’s office ruled Anthos fell because he had an arthritic neck, not because he was struck during a hate-motivated attack.

Anthos was left paralyzed from the neck down in what his family and others have called a hate crime. Anthos was on a city bus on Feb. 13 when a man reportedly approached him and asked him whether he was gay. The man reportedly continued to harass Anthos and followed him off the bus at the stop in front of his building. A witness saw a man trailing Anthos and standing over him while Anthos was face down on the ground. Anthos gave a corroborating statement before slipping into a coma. The medical examiner’s report fails to explain a 2-inch bruise on the back of Anthos’ head.

Statement by Matt Foreman, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

“The Detroit Police Department’s mishandling of the investigation into the death of Andrew Anthos is appalling and it is clear that they simply want to sweep it under the rug. The DPD have failed on so many levels — they have failed to involve the community in finding additional witnesses, they have ignored Mr. Anthos’ family and they are using a coroner’s report to negate Mr. Anthos’ deathbed statements and those of an eyewitness.

“We’ve seen the same kinds of things happen time and again in the way in which police respond to hate violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We are proud to work with the Triangle Foundation and to post a $10,000 reward to encourage people to come forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.”

...the American Family Association of Michigan in a statement called on Detroit police to investigate who may have been involved in the filing of what the Midland-based conservative group called "the filing of a false police report."

The AP notes, "It was unclear what police made of the friend's account." It's also unclear where police came up with a sketch of Anthos' attacker which was released on March 1st.

Athena Fedenis, Anthos' cousin, whom police did not talk to before going public with their findings, expressed shock that the case was closed: "I'm just livid about this. Andrew didn't have any reason to make this up. I won't let this rest. I can't let this tarnish him. I don't want anyone to think it wasn't a hate crime."

Today, Triangle Foundation joined with the Wayne County Prosecutor's office and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in calling for more witnesses to come forward in the attack on openly-gay 72-year-old Detroiter Andrew Anthos. The Task Force has offered a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in the case.

"Triangle Foundation stands in full support of the family of Andrew Anthos, whom we still believe was the victim of a vicious anti-gay assault which ultimately led to his death," said Triangle Director of Victims Services Melissa L. Pope, J.D. In addition to Andrew's statements about the attack to his family while on his deathbed, there was a witness present who provided police with a sketch of the man we believe attacked Andrew."

Triangle Foundation will continue working with Andrew's family and the press to reaffirm what we believe to be the truth in this case. The coroner's report, which we have not seen at this time, is unfortunate because it may lead to justice not being served in this case.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy's office has issued a call for witnesses to call the Detroit Police Department. Triangle and the Task Force request that witnesses who may feel unsafe contacting the police call Triangle directly at 313-537-7000, ext. 112 or 1-877-787-4264.

Further, we request that everyone receiving this message forward it to everyone they know in the city of Detroit and/or anyone thay know who may have been in the city on the night of Feb. 13 who may have been a witness to this attack. Together, we will pursue justice in this case.

the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office concluded that Anthos fell because he had an arthritic neck, and detectives were unable to find witnesses to a beating, police said. Medical Examiner Dr. Carl Schmidt said evidence did not support the report of an attack on Anthos and said a head injury likely came from falling.

DETROIT -- Andrew Anthos, the elderly gay man whose death was attributed to a vicious hate crime, did not die from a beating but from natural causes, Detroit police said Wednesday.

Police spokesman James Tate, citing an autopsy report from the Wayne County Medical Examiners Office that made the conclusion, said there was no evidence of a crime.

The autopsy's conclusion has angered Anthos' relatives.

"They determined that he died of natural causes," Tate said. "There's no evidence that an assault occurred. Effectively, this case is closed."