XPost: alt.politics, alt.religion.scientology, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.misc
A hate-filled homophobic Georgia man was sentenced to 40 years
in prison after he scalded a sleeping gay couple with boiling
water.
On Feb. 12, Martin Blackwell found his girlfriend�s son and a
friend sleeping together after the couple worked an overnight
shift.
Furious at the same-sex couple, he filled up a pot with boiling
water, soaking the two in bed and yelling, �get out of my house
with all that gay.�
�You were soulless, malicious and a violent person on February
12,� judge Henry Newkirk told him, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. �You had so many outs where the voice of
reason could�ve taken over.�
Instead, Blackwell carried out his hateful attack, leaving
Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert scarred with severe burns,
even after multiple surgeries.
�I woke up to the most unimaginable pain in my entire life,�
Tolbert said during his tearful testimony. �I�m wondering why
I�m in so much pain. I�m wondering why I�m wet.�
He suffered for 10 days in the hospital, while Gooden was there
for a month, including two weeks in a coma.
Blackwell�s attorney, Monique Walker, tried arguing on Wednesday
that he wasn�t being hateful or malicious, and framed the attack
as a lone lapse of judgment.
She admitted the burning was �revolting� and �repugnant,� but
said the 40 year punishment did not fit the homophobic crime,
arguing that it could have been worse.
�It�s not bringing in the kitchen sink,� Walker said.
It was, in fact, underneath the kitchen sink, where Blackwell
found the largest pot he could, to fill up with boiling water,
prosecutors said.
The 48-year-old faced up to 80 years in prison, but was
sentenced to 40, after being found guilty on all charges.
�I�m ecstatic,� Tolbert told reporters. �I think justice has
been served.�
This man is an American hero.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ga-man-sentenced-40-years- pouring-boiling-water-gay-men-article-1.2764602
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