2 Are Guilty of Hate Crimes

Two men pleaded no contest Wednesday to attempted murder and hate-crime charges for two separate attacks with a baseball bat on gay men in Hollywood last October.

Ever Wilfredo Rivera and Selvin Orlando Campos, both 20, entered pleas in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

As part of a plea agreement, Judge William F. Fahey immediately sentenced Campos to 10 years in state prison and Rivera to 14 years. Rivera is believed to be the one who wielded the bat.

If Rivera and Campos had been convicted at trial, they could have faced life sentences. Fahey also ordered them to pay the victims’ medical bills.

The attacks occurred Oct. 13 near Lexington Avenue and St. Andrews Place. The first took place at 5:30 a.m., when Ricardo Lorenzana, 47, was struck in the head with a baseball bat and his keys were stolen before he was able to run to his home. He needed 14 stitches to close a head wound.

Lorenzana said the attack changed his life, giving him nightmares and making him constantly worried about his safety.

“I’m glad [the case] is over,” he said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “Now they are going to pay the price. I hope they learn from what they did. It wasn’t right.”

Lorenzana said doctors told him the injury to his head could have been worse. “I was lucky, but others may not be as lucky,” he said.

About 10 minutes later, a 19-year-old man’s hand was injured when the defendants attacked him with a bat and a knife. The defendants yelled slurs while they committed the crime, according to prosecutors.

The attacks came weeks after another gay man, voice-over artist Trev Broudy, was hit with a baseball bat in West Hollywood. In that case, there were no hate-crime charges filed, prompting criticism of Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who said there was no evidence that the crime occurred because of the victim’s sexual orientation. The three men charged in that case are to be sentenced later this month.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Allen Ramseyer said Wednesday’s case clearly was a hate crime.

“The victims were targeted for no other reason than their sexual orientation,” he said. “The suspects went to this neighborhood looking for these types of vulnerable victims.”

Campos’ attorney, Merrill Davidson, said both defendants didn’t want to face the possibility of life sentences. “The risk was too great,” he said. “They’ll have a chance to be somebody after they get out.”

Rivera’s lawyer, Allan Fellman, said, “These are kids who have never been in trouble before in their lives.”