Yesterday, a jury found Hakim Scott guilty of manslaughter in the 2008 fatal beating of an Ecuadorean immigrant. Prosecutors Scott and his friend Keith Phoenix attacked Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother because they thought the brothers were gay, since they were holding hands while walking down a Brooklyn street. Scott, who was acquitted of hate crime charges as well as murder, faces up to 40 years in prison.
Scott and Phoenix allegedly yelled racist and anti-gay epithets at the brothers, and Scott supposedly hit Sucuzhanay (pictured) with a beer bottle while Phoenix beat him with a baseball bat. There were two juries, each deliberating the fate of Scott and Phoenix (Phoenix's jury is still deliberating today). A juror told the Daily News, "I'm guessing that Phoenix will be convicted of a hate crime but we didn't see enough evidence that Scott heard any of that. Some thought it might have been a hate crime but most of the discussion was about manslaughter or assault. The conclusion was that he held the bottle up high before he brought it down and he intended to do terrible harm and the outcome was that [Jose] died."
Sucuzhanay's relatives were upset that Scott wasn't convicted of a hate crime; one of his brothers said, "There was testimony that these words of hate were used. We believe right now would have been a perfect time to send a message against hate, intolerism and racism." Scott's lawyer said his client would appeal, "He’s upset that he was in the car with someone who committed these acts and was dragged along with him."
