MIAMI (WSVN) - A group of men on trial for allegedly beating a gay couple in Miami Beach are causing controversy in the courtroom for what they are claiming.
The four men accused in the 2018 incident returned to court on Friday.
The hearing comes after Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan decided against dismissing aggravated battery charges that stem from the brawl captured on surveillance video.
“I cannot find that any one of these defenses can be used for prosecution, so the motion to dismiss is denied,” she said.
It all goes back to gay pride weekend in April of 2018.
Victims Rene Chalarca and Dmitry Logunov, said they were holding hands while leaving a bathroom on Ocean Drive when they were approached and brutally attacked by the suspects, identified as Juan Carlos Lopez, Luis Alonso Piovet, Adonis Diaz and Pablo Reinaldo Romo-Figueroa .
Each of their attorneys spent the last two days arguing self-defense, citing Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
“The actual proof shows that Mr. Lopez was not the initial aggressor, and all he was doing was defending himself at that point,” said one of the defense attorneys.
But the judge was not buying it.
“There’s nothing in that video — and I watched it over and over again — that showed me that any of these defendants was in fear for their safety or their lives,” said Orshan.
7News spoke to the couple days after the attack, both bruised and badly injured, unsure then if they’d even come court.
Leaving the courtroom on Friday, one of the victims said, “Let’s just wait.”
All four men face aggravated battery under Florida’s hate crime statute, which means they could face stiffer penalties if convicted.
The next court hearing is scheduled for March 11 at 10:30 a.m.
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