Sep 04, 2009  |  By: Lou Chibbaro Jr.  | COMMENTS     

A man charged with misdemeanor assault for the September 2008 beating death of gay Maryland resident Tony Randolph Hunter near a D.C. gay bar is considering a plea bargain that could reduce or eliminate the time he spends in jail.

The prosecutor and defense attorney in the case against District resident Robert Hannah, 19, announced during an Aug. 31 status hearing in D.C. Superior Court that the plea offer was made and Hannah was deliberating with his attorney about whether to accept it.

If the case were to go to trial and he was convicted, Hannah would face a maximum sentence of 180 days in jail.

Judge Rafael Diaz scheduled another status hearing for Sept. 17 to review details of the plea offer and learn whether Hannah accepts it.

The hearing would take place exactly one year to the day from when Hunter died. The gay Maryland man died days after police say Hannah punched him in the face several times during a Sept. 10 “altercation” at the intersection of Eighth and N streets, N.W.

Police say Hunter, who was walking to the now renamed gay club BeBar with a friend, died from a massive head wound he suffered after he fell to the ground and hit his head on the pavement.

Hannah told police he punched Hunter in self-defense after Hunter allegedly touched Hannah’s crotch and butt while the two men crossed paths on the street.

A friend of Hunter’s, who was walking with Hunter at the time of the incident, has insisted that Hunter never touched Hannah and the assault was unprovoked. The friend has said Hannah and three other young men attacked him and Hunter for no apparent reason. The friend has asked that his name be withheld.

Gay activists and the local group Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence have expressed outrage that police and prosecutors appear to believe Hannah’s version of what happened rather than the account given by Hunter’s friend. They say it would be inconceivable that Hunter would sexually proposition a stranger walking with a group of other men on a dark street while walking to a gay bar.

A police affidavit says investigators interviewed at least two other witnesses. One, who told investigators he has known Hannah for several years, corroborated Hannah’s version of events. Another witness, according to the affidavit, gave an account similar to that of Hunter’s friend, with no mention of an alleged sexual proposition by Hunter.

Police initially charged Hannah with voluntary manslaughter, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail. A judge later lowered the charge to involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office failed to present Hunter’s friend’s version of events — that no sexual proposition took place.

In July, a Superior Court grand jury handed down an indictment against Hannah for misdemeanor simple assault, a development that shocked and angered local activists.

Benjamin Friedman, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the grand jury based its decision on the evidence his office presented to the jurors. He said prosecutors presented all available evidence.

But activists questioned whether the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented a strong enough case against Hannah.

Friedman and D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier have said they cannot disclose their reasons for handling the case the way they have while it’s pending in court.

Friedman said it’s possible that Diaz could hand down a sentence against Hannah at the Sept. 17 hearing. However, he noted that a sentencing could only take place if arrangements are made in advance for family members of Hunter to be present to offer their opinions on the proper sentence.

If family members or their designees cannot be present, a separate sentencing hearing must be scheduled, Friedman said.

Local defense attorney Dale Edwin Sanders, who is gay and has expressed concern over the government’s handling of the case, said local LGBT residents should attend the upcoming hearing and write letters to the judge calling for the strongest possible sentence.

“It’s just unthinkable to me that a prosecutor would be offering a plea bargain in this case,” Sanders said. “They should go through with a trial and ask for the maximum sentence.”

Sanders noted that trials for misdemeanor cases are conducted by a judge and don’t involve a jury, making it less likely that the defense could successfully use the so-called “gay panic defense” that would stress Hannah’s claim that he was sexually propositioned.

“Even the maximum sentence of 180 days is relatively short for an assault case where somebody has died,” Sanders said. “I can’t conceive of any circumstance where the prosecutor would not ask for some jail time.”

Friedman said he was hopeful that the government could provide a more detailed explanation of its handling of the case once it is resolved and the case is closed.

“It’s a difficult case,” he said Monday. “There is no guarantee we would win in a trial.”