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FYI: This is a long story and there's several snips to keep it down to copyright size.
Lawyers: NYC gay hate crime suspects are innocent
(New York) A suspected gang member accused of participating in what’s being called the city’s worst case of anti-gay violence in recent memory is not a monster and should be given a chance to tell his side of the story, his lawyer said Thursday.
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“Please stop running to judgment,” said Sanders Dennis, attorney for alleged ringleader Idelfonzo Mendez, as he addressed reporters outside the courtroom. “Stop making him a monster. Let the system play it out.”
Defendant Ruddy Vargas-Perez is “absolutely distraught,” said his lawyer, Benjamin Heinrich. “Ruddy is as appalled as everyone else.”
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“Ruddy is a working man” with a job in construction, Heinrich said. “He pays his taxes.”
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The 17-year-old was beaten and sodomized until he confessed to his involvement with the older man, authorities said. The mob later went after the 30-year-old, luring him to an abandoned apartment they used for partying, where they tied him to a chair and assaulted him, police said.
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