"Gay" Defense Fails in Michael Sandy Trial, Anthony Fortunato Convicted of Manslaughter

The second conviction in the Michael Sandy robbery and murder trial.

Twenty-one-year-old Anthony Fortunato, who hoped to fend off gay-bashing charges by telling a jury that he is also gay, was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime for his role in the deadly robbery of the black gay man lured via an Internet chat room. Fortunato was acquitted of the more serious charge, murder as a hate crime, "which could have kept him behind bars for the rest of his life. At his sentencing, he will face a jail term of between five and 25 years."

Prosecutors says Fortunato, John Fox and two other defendants trolled the Adam4Adam message board for potential victims, selecting a gay man as a robbery target, recruiting his friends to participate, and, ultimately, chasing the 29-year-old Sandy into his death in traffic. A third man, Ilya Shurov, will be tried separately. The fourth defendant turned state's evidence.

During the trial, "Fortunato took the witness stand and admitted a role in the crime" and also "said he was also gay, or at least bisexual, and been having sexual thoughts about men since he was a teenager. Jurors also heard testimony from three men who had one-night stands with Fortunato." Surprisingly, some jurors were moved by this testimony. In an interview with The New York Times, the jury foreman criticized the state's hate crimes definition and defended Fortunato: "It didn’t matter that he was also gay."

Twenty-nine-year-old Michael J. Sandy, an interior designer from Williamsburg, was lured to a secluded lot in Sheepshead Bay on Oct. 8, 2006 after exchanging online messages with his would-be-killers on Adam4Adam. Sandy was led to a narrow beach, then attacked and chased into traffic on the Belt Parkway. He was struck by an SUV and later died of his injuries. The driver has never been identified.

Complete Michael Sandy coverage here.

Man guilty of hate crime in death of gay victim [Newsday]
To Jury's Regret, A Hate Crime Conviction [NYT]

Some Background...
First Conviction in the Michael Sandy Trial [R20]
News: Florida Dems, Michael Sandy [R20]
Don't Lock Me Up I'm Gay [Keith Boykin]
Michael Sandy Murder Suspects in Court [R20]
Murder Suspect: He Only "Arranged" the Crime [R20]
Bail for Sandy Murder Suspect? [R20]
Killer Took a Nap After Brutal Gay Bashing [R20]
Charges Upgraded in Sandy Case [R20]
Michael Sandy Taken Off Ventilator [R20]
Four Arrested in Internet Set-Up [R20]
Brooklyn Gay Bashing Update [R20]
Gay Man Beaten in Vicious Attack? [R20]

Comments

[Mark]

If a person could avoid prosecution for an anti-gay hate crime because of bisexual thoughts, no one could ever be convicted of an anti-gay hate crime. Almost everyone has bisexual thoughts, except the few people at either extreme end of the Kinsey scale.

[LaRufus]

Well, call me a cynic, but, I don't see him doing 5 years, probably will be out by the end of the year with NYC judges. This whole trial has been messed up from the start, and this verdict only makes it worse. The jurors were "moved" too bad, they weren't "moved" by the murder of Mr sandy and came back with the right verdict.

I feel so bad for his family, they have lost a son, and, still got no justice, and, to be devils advocate, had, it been Mr Sandy as the killer, the outcome would have been different. And, the killers get to go on thier merry way, just apalling "justice" American style.

[Dex123ter]

This is so sad. Fortunato's only getting a minimum of five years. That's nothing considering the crime that he committed. There was forethought in his actions, which led to the death of another human being.

Arggh!! My condolences do go out to Michael's family.

[Jeff]

The laws of this country need to be streamlined and the same for all murders. In my local paper, two teenaged boys robbed a restaurant in which they had planned to do, same as Sandy's killers, and killed two teenaged boys working there, boys they actually went to school with, life without parole. In the same paper, a guy gets 90 years for child porn on his computer, and, these killers get a minimum of 5 years, what a joke. The kid in Florida, shown on taped being beat and stomped on, not guilty with 90 minutes deliberation from all white jury. And, they need to lose this hate crime stuff, no one on a jury seems to full grasp what that even means. And, be a black victim? Black male victim? No justice at all.