Judge Reduces Morehouse Sentence

Aaron Price will get an early release from prison.

In November 2002, the former Morehouse College student (left) nearly killed another student, Gregory Love (right), with a baseball bat because he mistakenly thought Love was gay.

Price, now 22 years old, has served three years of his ten year prison sentence. On Thursday he appeared in Fulton County Superior Court to ask for a shorter sentence. Judge Jerry Baxter, the judge in the original case reduced the sentence to seven years.

The judge says the original term was too harsh because he was angered by the aggressive gay panic defense developed by attorney Tony Axam and father, the Rev. Jerome Price.

Since the attack, Gregory Love , who says he is not gay, has graduated and returned to his home state of New Jersey. The Love family says they are constantly harassed by supporters of the defendant's father, a politically connected Chicago minister. After the hearing, Love blasted the reduced sentence: “Does this say, we will go ahead and convict a criminal, but, then three years down the road we’ll override the sentence? What does this say for the community, and what does this say for other victims in the community—that’s my question.”

A final insult to injury: Because of the sentence reduction, 11Alive reports "a spokeswoman for the Georgia Pardons and Paroles Board says that Price may be eligible for parole immediately. She says, however, that does not mean the board will grant parole." Let's hope not.

Since then, several states have attempted to curtail "gay panic" defenses. The brutal assault also prompted Morehouse and other HBCUs to re-evaluate their attitudes toward gays. But apparently, the colleges still have far to go. Morehouse student Jason Harrell essayed his experiences at KeithBoykin.com, which, if you haven't seen it this week, has just undergone a very pleasant makeover.

Sentence Reduced in Morehouse Assault (SoVo)

Video: Judge Lowers Sentence (11 Alive)

Previously:

The (Very Very Gay) Men of Morehouse (Rod 2.0) Black and Gay at Morehouse (Keith Boykin) A Tale of Two Campuses (Keith Boykin) Man of Morehouse Part 3 (Black Gay Blogger) Homo 101 (Village Voice)

Comments

[Derrick from Philly]

If that monkey lookin' savage had bashed a white boy, his ass would've received a 30 year sentence...well, then again, sometimes the gay panic defense works against them too. I wonder if he got the gay panic while his ugly ass was in prison?

[Cadence]

During the trial, Gregory Love said that he was still experiencing seizures because of the attack, and doctors said that he will probably have problems with seizures for the rest of his life. Taking that into account I can't believe that the judge would reduce the sentence of that piece of slime. But, this is the same judge who refused to sentence Price under the hate crimes law.

The sad thing about this is that many Black people in Atlanta believe that Price was justified in his actions. Even those who think Price shouldn't have used a bat, believe that it would have been okay if he had rounded up a gang of other students and gang attacked Love. I have no idea how we are going to stop these things from happening, especially when judges act like they are not a big deal.

[a thomas c]

i think what is most scary about this entire incident is that the very perception of gayness is grounds for assault, particularly construed this way when we consider that the sentence was reduced...

i *HATE* prisons...i've volunteered at one for the past year and i think they are not liberatory, they are not places to heal and they do not assist the incarcerated with becoming whole...

yet it still bothers me how this shit went down...Judith Butler writes about how speech can be injurious (Excitable Speech) but what is salient here is that a bodily act, or a *perceived* bodily act (i.e., appearing to look at someone in the shower) is enough to 1) constitute a straight man's body as gay... 2) implicate that the "gay" man wanted to force sex upon the "straight" man...

this shit just bothers me...and it's no accident that his father is a prominent minister in chicago...makes the homophobia allthemore understandable...

[avi]

so if it's the twinkie defense when a straight guy murders a gay guy, what is it when an angry scared gay guy murders a straight guy, like for fun or fear or sport? the beef jerky defense?

[M Frazier]

I can only imagine he had a very long 3 years in prison, if he only interacted with the straight prisoners in a Georgia prison

[algie]

and they say the justice system works in america...things like that show how backwards the justice system is