Mistrial in Satendar Singh Anti-Gay Hate Crime Murder Trial

A mistrial has been declared in the anti-gay hate crime murder trial of 21-year-old Aleksandr Shevchenko, accused of killing Fijian-immigrant Satendar Singh at a lake outside Sacramento over the Independence Day holiday in 2007.

Shevchenko and another suspect, 29-year-old Andrey Vusik of West Sacramento, reportedly attacked Singh, 25, while he was picnicking with friends after taunting him over his race and sexuality. Friends claim Singh's attackers made racial and homophobic remarks to Singh before assaulting him with what some claim were a pair of brass knuckles. Singh fell to the ground bleeding and died four days later in the hospital. [Background]

The Sacramento Bee reports: "After more than four days of tense deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men could not agree on whether the defendant was involved in the confrontation because he believed Singh was gay. The panel emerged before noon and told Judge Gary S. Mullen that they were "irrevocably deadlocked" on the hate- crime allegation that Aleksandr Shevchenko, 22, faced for his role in last year's fight. The Sacramento man was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts: disturbing the peace and simple assault for throwing a bottle. He could face a maximum sentence of about nine months in jail when he returns to court on July 11. It remained unclear Wednesday whether the District Attorney's Office would re-try Shevchenko on the controversial hate-crime charge."

Seven jurors believe Shevchenko is guilty of the hate crime charge, five do not. More details from the Bee...

As in Stephen Moller's murder of Sean Kennedy in South Carolina, another killer is likely to get off easy.

Previously
One of Two Suspects Caught in Hate Crime Killing of Satendar Singh [tr]
Gay Immigrant Satendar Singh Killed in Holiday Hate Crime [tr]

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Three Men to Appear in Court for Sacramento Anti-Gay Assault

Three men — Micah Jontomo Tasaki, 21 (pictured), y Lee Winfield, 20, and Robert Lee Denor, 19 — are scheduled to appear in court today for a gay bashing that occurred in Sacramento just hours after the Supreme Court handed down its same-sex marriage decision on Thursday. It's not known whether there is a connection between the two events.

"The Thursday evening incident at a Sacramento gas station came just hours after the California Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning a state ban on same-sex marriages. A 23-year-old Sacramento man was sitting with another man in a car near the station's restroom when the three suspects asked if he was a homosexual, Sacramento Police Officer Michelle Lazark said. The man said he was. When he got out of the car, the three men beat and kicked him, Lazark said. He did not require medical treatment. It was not immediately clear if the suspects were reacting to the court's ruling, Lazark said. 'It's a gay-bashing. Gay slurs were used before they commenced to beating him,' she said. 'I don't know if these guys were looking for someone or are just ignorant.' ... The victim of the Sacramento beating, who police would not name, identified his attackers, who were arrested near the gas station. Their cases are being reviewed by Sacramento County prosecutors, spokeswoman Tanisha Worthy said."

Tasaki remains in jail after being unable to post $85,000 bond. Winfield and Denor both posted bond and are currently free.

Above, a photo of Tasaki from his Black Planet profile page.

Sacramento men arrested in what police say was 'gay-bashing' hours after court decision [ap]

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One of Two Suspects Caught in Hate Crime Killing of Satendar Singh

Authorities have apprehended one suspect in the homophobic July killing of Fijian-immigrant Satendar Singh, and the FBI is reportedly assisting in the pursuit of an additional fugitive overseas.

Aleksandr Shevchenko, 21, has been arrested and appeared in Sacramento Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon to face charges of involuntary manslaughter and intimidating and interfering with a victim's rights. Shevchenko posted bail and was released Wednesday night but was scheduled to return to court on August 22 after his arraignment was postponed.

Shevchenko and the other suspect, 29-year-old Andrey Vusik of West Sacramento, reportedly attacked Singh, 25, while he was picnicking with friends over the Independence Day holiday after taunting him over his race and sexuality. Friends claim Singh's attackers made racial and homophobic remarks to Singh before assaulting him with what some claim were a pair of brass knuckles. Singh fell to the ground bleeding and died four days later in the hospital. [Background]

The Sacramento Bee reports: "Another witness, Folsom resident Wolfgang Chargin, earlier spoke with The Bee about the incident. He said he had watched an increasingly angry interaction that day at Lake Natoma, in which two groups were shouting. Chargin said the Russian-speaking group seemed especially offended by Singh, 26, who was dancing with both men and women. At one point, Chargin said, Singh's party went into the water and a man from the other group walked over and spit on their blankets. The man then went to the lake's edge and shouted something at Singh's group that they seemed to find especially shocking, Chargin said. Chargin said he did not hear the anti-gay and racial slurs Singh's group later reported to authorities. Sheriff's officials have said that both Singh's party and Vusik's group exchanged verbal jabs for several hours that day."

Vusik, the fugitive suspect, is reportedly in eastern Europe or Russia and has told relatives that he is returning to the U.S. "once a business transaction was completed involving his export car business." Vusik is allegedly the suspect who delivered the blow to Singh's face.

Said FBI investigator Steven Dupre of the pursuit: "Our role is just to find the fugitive and bring him back. The process can get a little involved. It gets more complicated if the person is a citizen of that country -- then it can take longer."

FBI Aids Suspect Hunt [sacramento bee]
One arrested, one sought in death of Fijian immigrant [san francisco chronicle]
Suspect's Sister: Death "Not a Hate Crime" [news10 sacramento]

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Gay Immigrant Satendar Singh Killed in Holiday Hate Crime [tr]

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Elizabeth Edwards Rips Bush on Hate Crimes Inaction

In a speech on Saturday in San Francisco, Elizabeth Edwards made note of the 4th of July holiday homophobic murder of Satendar Singh in Sacramento, slamming George W. Bush on his inaction on federal hate crimes legislation.

Said Edwards: "This president talks a lot about good and evil and the need to seek out evil doers. But he doesn't seem to recognize the evil in hate crimes. The right to live without the fear of being murdered for whom we love is not a special right. We were in fact reminded again while we share the lingering memory of a fence post in Laramie, the sorrow of that image is now joined by a park at Lake Natoma in Sacramento. And Matthew Shepard is joined by Satendar Singh as a martyr in that fight for justice."

Singh was attacked while picknicking with friends after a group of Russian men began taunting him with racist and homophobic slurs. The men then punched Singh, knocking him to the ground where his head began bleeding. Singh died of head trauma injuries four days later. He was a Fijian immigrant and had been living in the U.S. for seven years after being awarded a green card.

Edwards also told those attending her speech, which was sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, that if elected, her husband John Edwards "would help repeal more than a thousand laws that discriminate against same-sex couples."

This is Elizabeth Edwards' second major speech to gay groups in recent month. In the first, she announced that she supports full marriage rights for same-sex couples, an opinion which differs from that of her candidate husband, who supports civil unions.

Elizabeth Edwards decries beating death of Sacramento man [ap via san jose mercury news]

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Mr. Gay International is Crowned in the Desert

The second international Mr. Gay competition was held over the weekend in Palm Springs, California and Nathan Shaked of Israel was awarded the title, Mr. Gay 2007. Grant Ermis of the U.S. and Joep Mesman from the Netherlands were first and second runner up, respectively.

Said the pageant's producer Don Spradlin: "Competitions such as these have been popular in Europe for years and we're thrilled to now have a U.S. based component looking for the 'boy next door' to represent the broader gay community. The winner will serve as a spokesman to raise the visibility of gay men, confront homophobia, and create a positive role model in his travels around the world."

So there you have it. Full pageant equality.

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News: iPod vs Zune, Mr. Gay Sacramento, Friendster's Demise

Mozambique plans to launch gay rights movement: "If the Ministry of Justice says it's unconstitutional, then we'll ask them to show us where such associations are banned in the constitution."

Sacramento's Grant Ermis not your typical Mr. Gay, he says: "A typical schedule for Ermis might have him up at 6:30 a.m. tending the farm's flock of about 160 sheep before heading to campus for classes, and then to another job at a local harvesting company. Ermis doesn't want to feed into the fact that there is a stereotype, but said his days as the manager of breeding and genetics at the farm's sheep unit are filled with tasks that the general public probably wouldn't associate with a gay man."

How Friendster missed the boat. At one point, Friendster's founder Jonathan Abrams was offered $30 million by Google for the at-the-time leading social networking service, but turned it down to wait for a higher offer that never came: "Many people working at Friendster sneered at MySpace. The holy grail at Friendster — and the cause of most of its technical problems — was its closed system: users at Friendster could view only the profiles of those on a relatively short chain of acquaintances. By contrast, MySpace was open, and therefore much simpler from a technological standpoint; anybody could look at anyone else’s profile."

Gay man claims discrimination in effort to set up home-based massage therapy business in Manassas, Virginia.

Gay ex-cop in Monrovia, California files suit claiming he was harassed and then fired because of his sexual orientation. Mike Solarez: "After I got outed by the chief, my career was a target. I was a target for them. Everything I did was a target."

The Devil Wears Prada being developed for TV. I'll take Ugly Betty, thanks...

Steve Jobs doesn't expect the iPod to be hurt by Microsoft's Zune because its wireless capabilities are lacking: "It takes forever."

The Catholic Church in Scotland is upset that a gay group has been put in charge of anti-bullying programs in schools there. Director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service: "It is a little disturbing that LGBT Scotland has been asked to do some of this work because its research, also funded by the executive, recommended discussing issues of homophobia in primary school which we feel is inappropriate and not what parents want. It seems strange when there is so much other bullying, such as that prompted by racism, that this group has been given another opportunity to promote its own particular interests."

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