Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Social Media home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES                DOWNLOAD PDF ISSUE

Defendants in Hauff hate crime trial found innocent
News update posted Nov. 30, 2011
by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times
2011-12-07

facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Three men accused of beating an openly gay man Daniel Hauff on a northbound Red Line El train while yelling anti-gay slurs have been found innocent.

Judge Diane Cannon ruled on Nov. 30 that Sean Little, Kevin McAndrew and Benjamin Eder were not guilty on charges of aggravated battery and felony hate crime.

The case stems from a January 2010 altercation, during which Hauff claimed he was attacked by the three for interrupting anti-gay bullying. Hauff testified that the three turned their attention to him, kicking and punching him while they called him "faggot" and "stupid faggot." Hauff said that he smeared his blood on the defendants and told them he was HIV-positive in order to ward off the attack. The incident made national headlines.

But Hauff's media blitz in the days that followed the alleged attack came to undo his credibility, said Cannon.

"The victim is not to be believed," she told the court. "It was his media campaign and his agenda that struck fear in the community."

Defense attorneys argued that Hauff recalled details when it was convenient for his case but came up short of answers when cross-examined about things damaging to his story. Prosecutors said that Hauff responded to questions with "I don't know" approximately 150 times.

Further, the defense said, testimonies from Hauff and the witness supporting his case, were glaringly inconsistent.

Christopher Davin, the witness who testified to seeing the fight and helping Hauff on the platform afterward, said that the defendants kicked Hauff before he pushed the emergency button and the train operator came. Hauff testified, however, that the train operator had been called before the men kicked him and that she abandoned him in the car when he thought she was leaving to call police.

Adding to doubt, Davin testified that Hauff collapsed onto him after the beating, smearing blood on his white hoodie. Hauff told the court that he not fallen into Davin, and that he did not know how his blood got on Davin's clothing.

"These two witnesses contradict each other, and their stories internally are just silly," said defense attorney Neil Levine.

Defense attorneys said that it was Hauff who started the altercation, injecting himself into a conversation and acting on false belief that the defendants were bullying someone. They said that Hauff pushed the men and then wiped his blood on them as a threat, at which point Benjamin Eder punched him.

The punched was captured on Davin's cell phone camera and republished by several media outlets, including Windy City Times.

Prosecutors said that the defendants' story was at attempt to explain away the damning image of Eder punching Hauff on the train platform. Regardless of what Hauff remembers, said State's Attoney Dan Kirk, none of his actions warranted the beating that landed him in the hospital that night.

"So forgive Mr. Hauff that he is a little bit rattled," Kirk said. "Who wouldn't be a little bit rattled?"

Kirk said that Hauff had been grilled for an unprecedented seven hours on the stand, and that it was unreasonable to expect the victim of a hate crime to remember every detail about the incident. While Kirk admitted there were inconsistencies in details between witnesses, he said that Davin and Hauff were both clear on the major points.

Finally, he said, the fact that Eder punched Hauff's already bloody face proved that Eder was not reacting to Hauff's alleged threat to infect him with HIV, but was instead continuing a fight the defendants started.

"If someone is saying 'I'm HIV-positive,' are you going to run up to them and touch the blood?" Kirk asked.

In the end, Cannon ruled that Hauff's testimony coupled with his media appearances undermined the veracity of his story.

"He is clear on what he wants to be clear on, and that affects his credibility," she said.

Upon hearing the verdict, the families of Eder, Little and McAndrew broke into cheers and tears of joy.

But Cannon told the courtroom to clear out quietly and without celebration.

"There are no winners in this case," she said.

Hauff, who was absent for the conclusion of the trial, could not be reached immediately for comment.


facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Nex Benedict's autopsy report released
2024-03-27
The full autopsy report for Nex Benedict (he/they)—a 16-year-old transgender and Indigenous student from Oklahoma's Owasso High School who died in February a day after a school fight—has been released. The Oklahoma Office of the Chie ...


Gay News

Family of 2004 murder victim holds event in Lake View; reward announced
2024-03-24
The year 2004, for the family and friends of Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, will forever be marked by tragedy. On March 24 of that year, Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment at 3444 N. Elaine Pl.; he was the ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition'
2024-03-15
Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ people attacked by mobs in Greece
2024-03-14
Just weeks after a landmark law granted same-sex couples in Greece the right to marry, nearly 200 people dressed in black chased a transgender couple through the town square in Thessaloniki, the country's "second city" and ...


Gay News

WORLD Canadian politics, Australian murders, Finnish study, 'Anatomy'
2024-03-01
Canadian conservatives are divided over an anti-trans policy that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith handed down in her province, The Guardian reported. The policy includes a ban on hormonal treatment, puberty ...


Gay News

NATIONAL School items, HIV/AIDS activist dies, Nex Benedict, inclusive parade
2024-03-01
In a new survey, the Pew Research Center asked public K-12 teachers, teens and the U.S. public about the ongoing scrutiny placed on classroom curricula, mainly regarding race and LGBTQ+ identities, ABC News noted. Among other ...


Gay News

911 calls, videos show cascade of failures in Nex Benedict's death, GLAAD responds
2024-02-24
"It is haunting to hear Nex Benedict, in their own words, describe how school and state leaders failed, at every level of leadership, to keep them safe from bullying and harm. Less than 24 hours later, ...


Gay News

Federal jury finds man guilty of killing trans woman in landmark case
2024-02-24
In a groundbreaking case, a federal jury in Columbia, South Carolina found Daqua Lameek Ritter guilty of killing transgender woman Dime Doe after deliberating for almost four hours, The State reported. It is the first time ...


Gay News

HIV criminal laws disproportionately impact Black men in Mississippi
2024-02-21
--From a press release - A new report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that at least 43 people in Mississippi were arrested for HIV-related crimes between 2004 and 2021. Half of all arrests in the state ...


Gay News

Owasso High School student of Bridge v. Oklahoma State Board of Education case dies, groups respond
2024-02-20
--From press releases - Oklahoma City, Okla. — In response to the death of 16-year-old Owasso High School student Nex Benedict following an assault in the school restroom, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Oklahoma ...


Gay News

Yemeni court sentences 13 men to death for being LGBTQ+
2024-02-09
In the Arabian Peninsula country of Yemen, a court has reportedly sentenced 13 people to death who had been charged with homosexuality, The Washington Blade noted. Agence France-Presse reported that the court in Ibb Governorate, which ...


Gay News

Smollett asks state supreme court to overturn conviction
2024-02-07
Embattled actor Jussie Smollett has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to review and overturn an appellate ruling upholding his conviction for a hate-crime hoax that took place more than five years ago, The Chicago Sun-Times noted. ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Marriage news, fighting fentanyl, anti-LGBTQ+ crimes, Grindr
2024-02-02
The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that would affirm marriage equality in the state, The Washington Blade noted. House Bill 174, introduced by state Del. Rozia Henson (D-Prince William County), passed in the Democratic-controlled ...


Gay News

Seattle LGBTQ+ bars push back against raids
2024-01-30
In Seattle, a group of Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs are teaming with neighborhood queer community leaders Dan Savage and Terry Miller in calling for the state's liquor control board and Seattle police officials to ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 

 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots     
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.