In his first interview since a brutal attack last month, a West Hollywood model and actor told the Santa Barbara News-Press that he was targeted because he is gay.
Trev Broudy, 34, planned to return to his home in Santa Barbara on Thursday, leaving a Los Angeles hospital where he was recovering from the Sept. 1 attack.
"I'm doing all right," said Broudy, who just three weeks ago was in a coma in the hospital's intensive care unit.
He said he is angered over the decision by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office not to charge the three alleged attackers with a hate crime.
The attackers beat Broudy numerous times with a wooden bat and left him near-dead, right after Broudy had embraced a male friend outside his apartment, police said.
Broudy said the only motivation he can see for the attack is his sexual orientation.
He can't remember much of the attack, and it's difficult for him to remember many events that happened before it.
"It's very difficult for me to speak," Broudy said. "There's, like, different parts of my brain that aren't working."
Authorities said Broudy was attacked from behind in an assault that was similar to three others involving four victims -- all in a town known for its acceptance of gays.
Three south Los Angeles men have pleaded innocent to two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. They all were jailed in lieu of bail.
Prosecutors have said previously that investigators determined the motive for the attack was robbery and not the victim's sexual orientation.
On Wednesday, protesters picketed outside Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley's office, calling for his removal.
If the men are convicted on all counts, their prison terms would range from six to 20 years.
"I believe if you do the investigation properly here and properly review the evidence, only a just decision will be made, and that is to bring hate crime charges," said Councilman Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor.
District Attorney Steve Cooley's decision not to prosecute the case as a hate crime has prompted a number of demonstrations in West Hollywood, a community long recognized as a haven to gay people.
"I put my faith in the talented, ethical and highly professional prosecutors who have carefully evaluated the facts of the case," Cooley said in a statement. "We cannot, as ethical prosecutors, give in to political pressure."
Cooley has said previously that investigators determined the motive for the attack was robbery and not the victim's sexual orientation.
Larry Walker, 29; his brother, Vincent Dotson, 18; and Torwin Sessions, 19, all of south Los Angeles, pleaded innocent last week in Beverly Hills Superior Court to two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Sessions was held in lieu of $215,000 bail, while Walker was jailed in lieu of $185,000. Both men have prior robbery convictions. Dotson was held in lieu of $135,000 bail. The three are due back in court Nov. 4.
The three were charged in the beating of gay actor Treve Broudy, 34, who had just embraced a friend outside his home.
"We were traumatized once again when the district attorney failed to recognize the severity of this crime as a hate crime against a gay man in West Hollywood," West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang said.
The West Hollywood City Council on Monday approved a resolution calling on state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate the beating as a hate crime.
Protesters picketed outside District Attorney Steve Cooley's downtown office Wednesday, angry at his decision not to prosecute an attack on a gay West Hollywood resident as a hate crime.
"There's no point in having someone in office if they don't know what the law is, and worse, if they don't know how to apply it," said Sarah Bradshaw, a West Hollywood city employee. Bradshaw handed out fliers with the California Penal Code printed on them, saying Cooley should read up on the law.
The small group of protesters held signs that read, "Homophobia + Violence = Hate Crime," and "Recall Cooley. No More Hate."
Also Wednesday, West Hollywood Mayor Sal Guarriello announced a petition drive to recall Cooley from office. Recall proponents will get 160 days to collect signatures from 10 percent of registered voters countywide.
In a news release, Guarriello said public officials including county Sheriff Lee Baca, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Los Angeles, and actress-singer Madonna have expressed their dissatisfaction over Cooley's action.
Three south Los Angeles men have pleaded innocent to two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. They all were jailed in lieu of bail.
Cooley has said previously that investigators determined the motive for the attack was robbery and not the victim's sexual orientation.
Actor Treve Broudy, 34, was attacked early last month after he had just embraced a male friend outside his home.
"From the moment we heard of the brutal attack on Treve Broudy and his friend ... we all knew that it was an attack motivated by homophobia," said Progga Choudhury of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.
Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, said Cooley "chickened out" by not pursuing hate crime charges.
The West Hollywood City Council on Monday approved a resolution urging state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate the beating as a hate crime.
One of three men charged in the beating of a gay actor in West Hollywood said the assault was not motivated by the victim's homosexuality.
In a jailhouse interview, 19-year-old Torwin Sessions said the attack last month that left Treve Broudy critically injured was not planned and that he didn't know Broudy was gay.
"We were out joyriding, looking for girls on Sunset Strip," Sessions told the Los Angeles Times in the interview, published Saturday. "It was so crowded that we just took that other street, and I slowed down to yield for traffic. Then everything happened."
Prosecutors say they believe Sessions was wielding a baseball bat used in the attack. But Sessions said he was driving a stolen car Sept. 2 when his two companions suddenly jumped out of the vehicle with the bat.
"I heard the car doors slam, then I saw the dude fall down," he said. "The two guys I was with got back in the car and just said, 'Go!' Everybody in the car was just hysterical and panicking."
Sessions said he did not know Broudy was gay.
"That's not why everything happened," he said, without elaborating.
Sessions, Larry Walker, 29, and Vincent Dotson, 18, pleaded innocent to attempted robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Hours after the attack on Broudy, another West Hollywood man was assaulted in a similar way. On Sept. 22, a 55-year-old gay man was also attacked. Detectives were investigating a possible connection.
A decision by prosecutors not to file hate crime charges in the attack on Broudy prompted protests by more than 500 people in West Hollywood.
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