OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court will not overturn a hate-crime conviction and 12- to 18-month prison sentence for a Missouri man who sucker-punched a Marine for associating with two gay friends.
Friday's ruling helped solidify how Nebraska prosecutes and judges hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
In October 2013, Ryan Langenegger, a Marine, told police he was punched in the face in Omaha's Old Market area while standing on a street with two gay friends, one of whom was dressed in drag. Prosecutors say Gregory Duncan, of Kansas City, Missouri, and two other men had hurled slurs at Langenegger's friends before the attack. Officials say Langenegger was telling one of the men that he and his friends "just want to go home" when Duncan punched him in the face, unprovoked.
A Douglas County judge deemed prosecutors had shown that Duncan targeted Langenegger because he was associated with gay people, even though prosecutors did not present direct evidence that Duncan was aware Langenegger's two friends were gay. The high court upheld that finding.
Duncan had argued that he only hit Langenegger to protect a friend and that he was unaware Langenegger was associated with any gay people.
The high court said District Judge Leigh Anne Retelsdorf was right to deny Duncan's request that she declare him not guilty, because under Nebraska law, judges can direct a verdict only when the evidence is so lacking that a finding of guilt cannot be sustained.
The high court focused on state law that says a hate crime has been committed if the victim has been targeted "because of" his or her association with a person of a certain sexual orientation. It said in its unanimous ruling that it has often discussed the phrase in determining whether criminal conduct caused an event, but this case was "the first time that we must apply the concept to a defendant's motive rather than his conduct."
The high court also rejected other claims by Duncan, including that his sentence was excessive. Justice William Cassel wrote that Duncan's criminal history and his failure to appear for sentencing made the prison sentence reasonable. Duncan's claim that the judge should have defined "sexual orientation" in a jury instruction was without merit, the high court said.
The Nebraska Attorney General's Office, which handled the appeal for the state, declined to comment on the ruling.
A phone message left Friday for Duncan's public defender was not immediately returned.