New York gay
basher found guilty

A New York City jury on Tuesday convicted a Brooklyn man of a hate-crime assault in the brutal beating of a gay man last year. Steven Pomie, 23, faces up to 25 years in prison when he's sentenced on April 24. Prosecutors say Pomie beat, kicked, and stomped 28-year-old Dwan Prince on June 8, 2005, calling him "faggot." Two neighbors testified at Pomie's trial that they were attending to Prince after the first attack when Pomie returned and landed one final bloody kick with his boot. Two other men involved in the beating have not been caught. Prince used to work demolition and as a porter. Now, after enduring a coma and three brain surgeries, he says he can barely walk and is in constant physical pain. The New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project commended police and the district attorney's office for "excellent work" in bringing Pomie to justice. But project director Clarence Patton notes that Prince and his family "will live with the pain inflicted by Pomie's hatred for the rest of their lives." (Sirius OutQ News)