BROOKLYN: 37 Years In Prison For Both Anti-Gay Hate Crime Killers

Hakim Scott and Keith Phoenix were both sentenced to 37 years in prison today for the anti-gay and anti-Hispanic murder of Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay, who was viciously beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat last year because the two killers mistakenly thought Sucuzhanay and his brother were gay.

The two victims were drunkenly walking home with their arms around each other in Brooklyn when the killers leaped out of their car screaming "faggots!" and anti-Hispanic slurs and began raining blows down on their heads with the bat. (Jose's brother survived.) Surveillance cameras caught the killers laughing and smiling minutes later as they drove through a toll booth. Aside from its repugnant nature, the case is notable because it brought together NYC's immigrant and LGBT communities in large joint protests. My favorite sign held by a young weeping lesbian read: "We Are ALL Jose!"

BROOKLYN: Jury Convicts Keith Phoenix In Hate Crime Murder Retrial

Justice was at last served yesterday in the hate crime murder retrial of Keith Phoenix (left), who in 2008 beat Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay to death with a metal baseball bat as he screamed anti-gay and anti-Hispanic epithets. Last month a mistrial was declared when jurors could not agree on convicting Phoenix of murder or manslaughter. The second trial's jury saw things more clearly and deliberated for less than a day. Gay City News editor Paul Schindler reports:

The Brooklyn jury hearing the second trial of Keith Phoenix, the killer of José Sucuzhanay, convicted him of second-degree murder as a hate crime as well as attempted assault as a hate crime in the attack on Romel Sucuzhanay, José’s brother. “This verdict sent the right message,” said Diego Sucuzhanay, another of José’s brothers, after the jury announced its verdict at roughly 9:30 p.m. on June 28. “We believe that justice has been done for our brother.” Phoenix, 30, and Hakim Scott, 27, assaulted the brothers after mistaking them for a gay couple as they were walking home early in the morning on December 7, 2008 in Brooklyn’s Bushwick section. The two Ecuadorian immigrants were huddled close together to stay warm. Romel said an anti-Latino slur was used. Two other witnesses heard an anti-gay slur. Phoenix was convicted on the top counts he faced and could get as much as 40 years in prison for the killing when he is sentenced on August 5. His first trial ended in a mistrial after one juror held out for a manslaughter conviction while the other 11 wanted to convict on second-degree murder. The first jury did not believe the attack was a hate crime.

Last month Phoenix' accomplice in the attack, Hakim Scott, was convicted of manslaughter only and unbelievably, that jury dismissed hate crime charges. Both men will be sentenced next month.

Mistrial For Second Defendant In Brooklyn's Brutal Anti-Gay Murder Trial

The judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Keith Phoenix, who was on trial for the anti-gay, anti-Hispanic murder of Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay. According to Phoenix's lawyer, the jury was deadlocked over convicting him of murder or manslaughter. The victim was beaten to death with a metal baseball bat in Brooklyn in late 2008 after Phoenix and another man mistakenly thought that he and his brother were gay lovers.

After more than three days of jury deliberations, a holdout juror prompted a mistrial Tuesday night in the hate crime trial of a Brooklyn man accused of beating an Ecuadorean immigrant to death. Keith Phoenix, in pale shirt, watched a taped police interview of himself, as did the jury, in court in Brooklyn on Tuesday. About 9 p.m. Tuesday, Justice Patricia M. DiMango of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn announced that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked in the case of Keith Phoenix, because one person on the panel refused to deliberate any further. “I can’t see any other action than to declare a mistrial at this time,” said Justice DiMango, who set a new trial date of June 15 before Mr. Phoenix, 30, was handcuffed and led out of the room. “I love you, baby,” Mr. Phoenix’s mother, Marietta Phoenix, called out to her son. “It was justice,” she later said.

"Justice," his mother said, despite the overwhelming evidence and the photo of Phoenix laughing about the crime minutes later as he drove through a toll booth. Equally unbelievable, last week Phoenix's accomplice was convicted only on a manslaughter charge, with no hate crime embellishment. The judge set a new trial date of June 15th for Keith Phoenix.