Sentencing ing San Diego Gay Pride Attack

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - Three men who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a series of brutal beatings after a gay pride festival in Balboa Park were sentenced yesterday to prison.
James Carroll, 24; Lyonn Tatum, 18; and Kenneth Lincoln, 24, admitted to criminal charges Friday on the second day of a San Diego Superior Court hearing in which prosecutors began laying out evidence.
In keeping with the plea agreement, Judge Frederick Maguire sentenced Carroll to 11 years in prison, Tatum to eight years and Lincoln to 32 months.
Prosecutors said Carroll, Tatum and a juvenile assaulted six men with a baseball bat and a knife July 29 as the victims were leaving the annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Festival in Balboa Park.
The attacks started about 10:45 p.m., on Redwood Circle near the lawn bowling center east of Sixth Avenue and north of Laurel Street.
One of the victims was beaten so severely that almost every bone in his face was broken. Reconstructive surgery was required for that victim, who almost died, and he spent two weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, according to court testimony.
Another victim, Paul Mullins, 34, testified he was hit twice with a bat by one assailant while another two shouted a gay slur.
Mullins said he called 911 after the attack and followed the men for about 10 minutes before they attacked another man sitting on a bench. He testified he then saw them beat a man in the bushes near Cabrillo Bridge while shouting “faggot.”
Mullins told the judge yesterday he was saddened and angry that no one who came in contact with the attackers, particularly those who heard them planning it, tried to stop them.
Mullins said he was “disappointed” he will have to attend a sentencing next week for a 15-year-old boy involved in the beatings, and speak to a judge about the teenager's fate.
“I don't know him. I don't know much about him, but this is what you've dumped in my lap,” Mullins said to the defendants.
The teenager pleaded guilty last Monday in Juvenile Court to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and hate crime allegations. He could be sentenced to up to 13 years in the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Division of Juvenile Justice when he is sentenced Oct. 4.
Carroll pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault. He also admitted using a bat and carrying out a hate crime.
Tatum pleaded guilty to assault charges, using a knife and committing a hate crime.
Lincoln, who was on parole on a domestic violence conviction at the time of the beatings, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors said he was not present during the attacks, but tattooed Tatum and shaved his head to help keep him from being recognized and arrested.
Lincoln and Carroll told the judge Friday that they disagreed with prosecutors' version of the facts, but felt it was in their best interest to take the plea agreement. Had they been convicted of the original charges they would have faced much longer sentences.
from The San Diego Union-Tribune