Mistrial Declared in Gay-Bashing Hate-Crime Case

A mistrial was declared Tuesday after jurors deadlocked on assault and hate-crime charges against two sailors accused of attacking four gay men in a gay bar.

The San Diego Superior Court jury did convict Todd Dabrieo, 21, of two misdemeanor battery charges but deadlocked on the civil rights allegation that he attacked the victims because of their sexual orientation.

The jury reached no verdicts after three days of discussions in the case against co-defendant Murry Murphy, 19.

The pair were ordered by Judge Richard Murphy to appear in court Nov. 4 to see if the district attorney’s office will retry them.

The July 2 incident occurred at a Point Loma bar known as The Hole. Testimony from patrons said the two men hit one man with a bottle, another with a rock and two others with pool cues.

The defense alleged that the patron hit with a bottle, Walter Best, touched the buttocks of one sailor, which sparked the incident. Best suffered a broken jaw and lost five teeth.

Best denied in testimony making a pass at either defendant. The trial began Oct. 15.

Best said he recalled one sailor yelling “faggot” after the assault, and other patrons said they heard the remark.

Dabrieo’s attorney, Tim Chandler, said the maximum sentence his client could receive on the two battery charges is six months in jail. Both defendants have been in County Jail in lieu of bail of $50,000 and $25,000, and those figures were not changed Tuesday.

The case is said to be the first to come to a jury trial locally in which a defendant is charged with committing a hate crime because of a victim’s sexual orientation.