Daniel Hauff’s Gay Bashers Found Innocent Because He Couldn’t Recall What He Did the Day After
Benjamin Eder, Kevin McAndrew, and Sean Little (pictured, L-R) were found not guilty of aggravated battery nor a hate crime. Or as we like to call it, beating the crap out of Daniel Hauff on the train.
Even thought the bashing was caught on a cell phone camera, a Cook County judge questioned Hauff’s credibility after he was cross-examined for seven hours. “The victim is not to be believed,” Judge Diane Cannon concluded. “His inability to recall who did what is understandable. His inability to recall what he did the day after this incident is not understandable.”
Hauff’s attorney was shocked to hear the verdict. Even though it was a uphill battle trying to prove this was a hate crime, the fact that there was a photo should have been enough irrefutable evidence of aggravated battery. Unfortunately, the photo was taken by a convicted drug dealer.
As for Hauff, well he sure as hell doesn’t take the train anymore.
Is this judge out of his mind? Photographic evidence isn’t reliable because the photograph was taken by a drug dealer. And I suppose the Kennedy film isn’t reliable because it was filmed by a Jew? Come on, get real here the judge is a homophobe is the answer.
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On the bright side, their names and faces are a matter of public record now. So if someone completely disillusioned with the so-called “justice system” were inclined to take a ‘proactive’ or preventative approach to self-defence and set out to break the arms and legs of a trio of should-be-convicts on the lam, they’d be quite a bit easier to locate and identify. Not that I’d ever endorse such an act as a matter of public record, just making an observation.
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What difference does it make that the victim can’t remember what he did the day after he was viciously attacked? I was attacked once, jumped and beaten by two gay-bashers just for walking on the same sidewalk as them, and the next week was pretty much a blur to me.
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This judge was clearly ruling from an agenda and not facts in the case. I hope there is some recourse by the people, either a retention vote or something.
@ChrisC – Nope – found not guilty – double jeopardy applies. Only recourse is civil and that would be expensive and these dolts probably have no money to get anyway.
@Ken S – While not condoning such an action, I would certainly understand if someone was outraged and angry enough to where it did occur. Maybe we should get an publish address and phone numbers to help keep them safe.
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And this is where lies the American justice system’s greatest fault.
The very concept of “double jeopardy” is the antithesis of of a true “justice” system.
An accused should NOT be able to avoid just punishment and conviction for a crime, simply because of judicial misconduct or incompetence.
The judge should be removed and charged as an accessory after the fact.
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Please, please, please get a copy editor: “… were found NOT guilty of NEITHER aggravated battery NOR a hate crime.” (Emphasis added.)
In English, you wrote: The culprits were found not guilty of what? Per your statement, they were found not guilty of neither … nor …. So, what were they found guilty on? So, what were they found not guilty of?
You wrote the opposite of what you meant: The culprits were found not guilty of aggravated battery and hate crimes.
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@chuck: Used to? White Southern judges are still doing this to black people every chance they can get. It’s not just judges, either, it’s the entire mechanism of law. I know from experience that Asian cops love brutally and persistently harassing people they THINK are black.
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Art, your comment is very puzzling. If I’ve spread hate by pointing out that an Asian cop named Charles Rozier is racist, well, I’m flabbergasted. If he didn’t want to be known as virulently anti-black, then he shouldn’t have started hating black people.
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@ArtNYC: Hmmm, I wonder, if Henry knows this to be true, can you credibly accuse him of spreading hate simply for stating the truth, no matter how unpalatable you may find it? There was no vitriol or call to arms in his comments. Is it possible that you have given meaning to his comment that was not intended?
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I’m pretty dernnn sure Charles Rozier is as racist as they come, and nowhere does the word “all” appear in my post, Art. It’s true that minority-race cops pretty much hunt down non-whites (including non-whites of their own race) because they have something to prove, to themselves or their superiors.
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@ArtNYC: I made a constructive relevant comment. I observed that Henry did not, as you suggested, appear to be promoting hate. However, I made the mistake of disagreeing with you, which obviously a crime in your little universe.
See – we can both do sarcasm. Of course, if you hadn’t jumped down Henry’s throat in the first place, then rude and defensive in the second, it wouldn’t be necessary. I think it must be that time of the month for you.
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I was there for the entire trial and about half of the court calls for this case. Proving a hate crime is very difficult, but Daniel wanted to make this as public as possible, which in the end hurt the case. They say that you can either have media presence or justice, not both. Daniel did the right thing talking to the media because we have to wake up and see that we have a big problem in this country with hate crimes, especially against the LBTQA community. And it is on the rise, not the decline as the FBI and many police officials will report. Getting back to this story, officials handled this case terribly from the get go. It is not Daniel’s fault and Judge Cannon may very well be homophobic. It is up to people in the City of Chicago to make sure this woman does not get re-elected next term. Daniel Hauff is amazingly brave and I can only hope I would be too.
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The photo from Out for Justice’s FB:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/.....8122110244
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I was there for the entire trial and about half of the court calls for this case. Proving a hate crime is very difficult, but Daniel wanted to make this as public as possible, which in the end hurt the case. They say that you can either have media presence or justice, not both. Daniel did the right thing talking to the media because we have to wake up and see that we have a big problem in this country with hate crimes, especially against the LBTQA community. And it is on the rise, not the decline as the FBI and many police officials will report. Getting back to this story, officials handled this case terribly from the get go. It is not Daniel’s fault and Judge Cannon may very well be homophobic. It is up to people in the City of Chicago to make sure this woman does not get re-elected next term. Daniel Hauff is amazingly brave and I can only hope I would be too.
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How come half of these threads get the name Charles Rozier brought up? I don’t even know who he is, nor do I care, especially when the subject is three kids being found not guilty of a hate crime they totally committed. Unless one of their names is Charles Rozier, how is this relevant at all to the topic?
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@Mike in Asheville: This brave guy gets to watch his attackers walk out of the courtroom without so much as a slap on the hand and all you care about is the grammar of the writer? SMH….
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@OFJ:
It certainly does appear that Judge Cannon is demonstrating a bias, or she’s batshit crazy. Throwing out the evidence and testimony of the eyewitness is weird. But Hauff was grilled for 7 hours in her courtroom. Putting victims on trial is unacceptable.
Judge Diane Gordon Cannon is unqualified to be a judge and needs to be removed.
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Queerty isn’t alone is referring to the three gay-bashing thugs as being “found innocent” rather than the actual court decision of “not guilty.” An acquittal is not a finding of innocence. Hate crime charges are very difficult to prove in court and as a result can unfortunately tank the whole case rather than just the hate crime portion. However, for this presumably sane judge to proclaim that Hauff was “not credible” based on his inability to remember what he did the day after being violently attacked is baffling.
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Dianne Cannon is a total idiot. I can’t recall what I did the day before yesterday, yet alone the day after a traumatic incident. Perhaps she should run her comments by someone with more than 50 brain cells before making them?
I really don’t understand how there can be any problem proving a video recorded beating. Shocking.