A California man has been sentenced to five years in prison for attacking a gay fashion designer, but prosecutors admit it was a hate crime.
Jesús Rodolfo Zepeda was found guilty of assaulting prominent fashion designer Pol Atteu during a charity fashion show held at St. John’s Cathedral in Los Angeles in September 2019.
The event benefited the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was featured on Attew and his husband Patrick Simpson’s reality show. Beverly Hills outing with gown.
As a result of the attack, Atteu suffered a concussion, a broken shoulder and bruises, and was hospitalized for two days.
Zepeda, who was reportedly upset after Ateu cut her 9-year-old daughter from the show, was arrested, but there was no evidence of coronavirus infection among prisoners in the midst of a pandemic. He was quickly released under a policy aimed at preventing the spread of.
Zepeda was sentenced last week to a five-year suspended sentence in state prison for assault. He served only four days in county jail and is credited with time already served.
He must comply with various conditions as part of his suspended sentence release. Mr. Zepeda’s actions will be closely monitored and further violations, even minor ones, will result in him being immediately imprisoned.
Atteu and Simpson were granted a 10-year protection order against Zepeda.
“If you get pulled over, if you make derogatory, negative comments, if you do anything bad, you’re going to go to prison for at least five years,” Simpson said. defender.
The couple has faced conflicts with the justice system, and prosecutors said they were initially hesitant to classify the assault as a hate crime based on anti-LGBTQ hostility.
“I don’t think I was given justice,” Ateu told an LGBTQ magazine about the prosecutor’s reluctance. “I don’t think I could have found a solution and I understand that I had to follow the guidelines of the law, but it wasn’t there to protect me, it was there to help me. I didn’t even do it.”
The couple continued to insist that the attack be recognized as at least partially homophobic, noting that Zepeda repeatedly used anti-gay slurs at Atteu during the assault.
The couple works to advocate for people who are hesitant to report hate crimes, including members of the LGBTQ community, who may face similar challenges in convincing law enforcement and prosecutors that a crime is motivated by bias. They want to use their public platform.
“I would like to know if I can represent others and how that can be accomplished, what forms I need to fill out, and where I can go to get the help I need. “It might give us some insight into whether it’s good or not,” Atteu said.