Four Lesbians Convicted Of Attacking Man

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Four Lesbians Convicted Of Attacking Man

NEW YORK (AP) -- Four lesbians accused of attacking a man who made advances toward one of them were convicted Wednesday of varying assault charges stemming from the altercation, in which the man was seriously stabbed.
The defendants and some of their relatives and friends sobbed openly and loudly after the verdict was read. One defendant collapsed as she was led from the Manhattan courtroom crying, "No! No! Nooo! I didn't do it!''
None was convicted of first-degree gang assault, the most serious charge against them. All were convicted of second-degree gang assault and face up to 15 years in prison on that charge.
Patreese Johnson, accused of stabbing the victim, Dwayne Buckle, was the only defendant charged with second-degree attempted murder. She was acquitted of the charge. She was convicted of first-degree assault, which carries the same penalty as attempted murder, and faces up to 25 years in prison.
State Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin jailed the four without bail. Before the lawyers spoke, he said, ``There's simply no point in talking. They're out-of-state residents facing mandatory prison time. There's no point in talking.''
The judge said he will sentence the women on May 17. Besides Johnson, 20, the defendants are Renata Hill, 25, Venice Brown, 19, and Terrain Dandridge, 20.
A lawyer for Hill, Susan Tipograph, called the verdict disappointing. She said the women were defending themselves from an "abusive, homophobic'' Buckle. She and the other defense lawyers said they would appeal.
The fight started after Buckle, of Queens, made advances at one of seven lesbians from Newark, N.J., who were walking past him outside the Independent Film Center in Greenwich Village on Aug. 18, 2006.
Johnson testified that they told Buckle, 29, they were not interested and he became loud and rude, called them names and threw a cigarette at them while saying sex with him would make them straight. She said he started pushing and shoving them.
Three other women who were in the group previously pleaded guilty to attempted assault and were sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation.
Buckle testified that he was in a hospital for five days and in bed at home for a month after surgery for a lacerated liver and stomach. He said he also suffered cuts, bruises, scratches and an eye injury in the attack.
Buckle, who has called the incident "a hate crime against a straight man,'' is a movie audio-video engineer and an independent filmmaker. He says he was trying to sell some of his DVDs on the street when the fight started.

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