Gay hate crime defendant Juan Carlos Lopez’ attorney Dennis Gonzales, is attempting to convince a jury and the public that the gay bashing hate crime charges against four young men who beat a gay couple following Miami Beach’s Gay Pride festival in May, should be thrown out.

His argument you ask? Because one of the four men charged in the gay hate crime was raised by his father who is gay. The horrific attack was caught on camera and showed the brutality in the attack that resulted in serious injuries upon the victims.

NBC 6 Miami reported….“Juan Lopez, the father of Juan Carlos Lopez, said that he raised his son along with his partner of 15 years. Lopez said his son and his three friends have never attacked “any gay people. I’m sure 100 percent of that,” he said, adding that his son respects “everybody in this community” and that he “loves LGBT.”

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Prosecutors Justin Funck and Luis Caso, who are part of the State Attorney’s Hate Crimes Unit added the Gay hate crime charges on to the aggravated battery charges which means each of the four men face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

The gay couple identified as Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov, as well as Helmut Muller Estrada, a good Samaritan who had attempted to stop the attack back in May, were violently assaulted by the four men. The victims told police that they were targeted because of their sexual orientation. They also told police that the violent attackers shouted anti-gay slurs while assaulting them.

The attackers are identified as Juan C. Lopez, 21, Adonis Diaz, 21, Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa, 21 and Luis Alonso-Piovet.

Lawyer Dennis Gonzales representing Juan Carlos Lopez and the other three defendants, said ….“This case clearly is not gay animus because Lopez’s father is gay” These kids grew up with their friend Juan – their father has been in a gay relationship the last 15 years. These kids have participated in that – that’s at issue.” said Gonzales.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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