Jury Selection in Deadly Hate-Crime Trial

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of two men accused in the deadly beating of an Ecuadorian immigrant in Brooklyn, New York in 2008. Defendants Hakim Scott and Keith Phoenix allegedly shouted antigay slurs at Jose Sucuzhanay while he walked arm-in-arm with his brother in the Bushwick neighborhood.

Scott and Phoenix face life sentences, according to NY1 News. Scott rejected a plea deal of an 18-year sentence.

"He and Keith Phoenix have been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, manslaughter, assault and attempted assault in connection with Jose Sucuzhanay's death in 2008," NY1 reports.

"Prosecutors say the two shouted anti-gay and Hispanic slurs at the man and his brother and attacked them with baseball bats while they were walking arm-in-arm in Bushwick."

Jose's brother, Romel, survived the attack.