GerritsenBeach.net

Via NY Times

In a case that put sexual identity, hatred and ultimately forgiveness in leading roles, three men were sentenced to prison on November 20th for their roles in chasing a gay man to his death in highway traffic in Brooklyn last year.

Their terms diverged: For the planner, Anthony Fortunato, 7 to 21 years. For the lure, John Fox, 13 to 21. And for the aggressor, Ilya Shurov, 17 1/2.

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There will be a vigil for Michael J. Sandy organized by the family starting at 4:30 PM starting by Emmons Ave. & Knapp St.

There’ll be a shuttle from there to Plumb Beach.

No local elected or groups were invited - the family put the permit through 1 Police Plaza.

There is going to be some kind of march, from Knapp St. to the Plumb Beach rest stop, either as a memorial for Michael J Sandy or a protest against the defendants.

If you don’t know who Michael J Sandy is, he died in an robbery attempt off of the Plumb Beach rest stop and the court proceedings have been in the paper ever since.

This will be large news event if this happens.

We are unsure at this point but we are going to find out more at the 61st Precinct Community Council meeting tomorrow Tuesday, October 9th. (at the bainbridge house on Ocean Ave between Voorhies and Shore)

The claim that Anthony Foturnato, one of three men on trial for hate crime murder of a gay man, was gay himself was not only strange to most everyone - it was apparently mysterious to the judge as well! Fortunato, Ilya Shurov John Fox, and Michael Timmins had lured Michael Sandy to meet them at a secluded location in Sheepshead Bay, via a gay chatroom, in 2006. Once there, they robbed and beat Sandy, who ran into the Belt Parkway and was hit by a car. Fortunato, Shurov and Fox were charged with murder as a hate crime; Timmins agreed to a plea deal in return for testifying against the others.

• NyTimes - Sexuality as Defense Puzzles Judge
• Towleroad - Defense: Screen Names, Sexuality, Suicide at Michael Sandy Trial
• Gothamist - Judge Wonders About Hate Crime Defendent’s Strategy

Image of Fortunato from Towleroad, who has been following the Michael Sandy murder

Via the Ny Times and GayCityNews

One of the defendants accused of killing a gay man in Brooklyn last year because of his sexual orientation offered a startling courtroom revelation yesterday: He, too, is gay.

So said the lawyer for Anthony Fortunato, 21, one of four men accused of chasing a gay man to his death on the Belt Parkway during a robbery on Oct. 8, 2006.

Check out the articles above

Via the Gay City News

A Brooklyn judge ruled that statements made by John Fox, a defendant in the 2006 Michael J. Sandy homicide, and the results from line-ups and photo identifications can be used at the trial of Fox and Anthony Fortunato, a second defendant.

“[Fox's] motion to suppress his oral, written, and videotaped statements as well as his line-up identification on the ground that he was held in police custody without probable cause is denied,” Jill Konviser, the trial judge wrote in an August 27 ruling.

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Via Gay City News

A judge upheld the Brooklyn prosecutor’s use of the state hate crimes law in the 2006 Michael J. Sandy homicide.

Anthony Fortunato, 21, John Fox, 20, and Ilya Shurov, 21, are charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one as a hate crime, four counts of attempted robbery with two as hate crimes, two manslaughter counts, one as a hate crime, and two assault counts, one as a hate crime.

Allegedly, they lured Sandy, a gay African-American, to an October 8 meeting for sex at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach. They allegedly tried to rob Sandy who fled on to the Belt Parkway where he was struck by a car. Sandy, 29, died on October 13.