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Updates in Betts, Wone murder cases
Family of slain gay principal pushes hate crime prosecution
Lawyers representing the family of murdered D.C. middle school principal Brian Betts, who was gay, met with officials at the U.S. Department of Justice on Dec. 7 to reiterate an earlier request that the department investigate whether the murder should be declared a federal hate crime.
Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented celebrities in high-profile cases, said after the meeting that she and co-counsel Rene Sandler asked members of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to determine whether at least one of the four teenagers charged in the murder violated the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.
Allred noted that defendant Alante Saunders, 19, pled guilty to first-degree felony murder for shooting Betts to death and has been sentenced to 40 years in jail. But she said his use of a gay sex chat line to meet Betts and target him for a robbery could be grounds for initiating a hate crime prosecution.
“It is clear to us that a person who participates in a male-to-male sex-chat line would be perceived as gay and may be thought to be an especially vulnerable target for a criminal,” Allred said.
Sandler said the Justice Department officials promised to review the case and make a determination in the near future on whether to open a hate crime investigation in the Betts murder case. She said the meeting lasted more than an hour.
Betts was found murdered in his Silver Spring, Md., house in April. In addition to Saunders, two other youths implicated in Betts’ murder pled guilty to lesser charges. A fourth youth is scheduled to stand trial but is said to be considering accepting a plea bargain offer from prosecutors.
The chief prosecutor in the case has said the evidence doesn’t support a hate crime prosecution.
Gag order request denied in Wone case
The judge presiding over a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit filed against three gay men for the 2006 murder of local attorney Robert Wone denied the men’s request that all lawyers in the case be barred from speaking to the media.
Lawyers representing Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward argued that remarks made to the press by at least one of the attorneys representing Kathy Wone, wife of the slain attorney, were highly prejudicial and would make it difficult to obtain an impartial jury in the case.
They were referring to a comment by attorney Patrick Regan outside the courtroom earlier this year related to the defendants’ stated plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment to allow them to refuse to answer nearly all questions at their trial next spring.
Regan told members of the media that, “defendants don’t assert their fifth amendment rights if they are not guilty of something.”
The defendants are expected to argue that answering questions in the civil trial or during pre-trial depositions could incriminate them in a possible future criminal prosecution.
The three were found not guilty on charges of conspiracy and evidence tampering in connection with the Wone murder in a criminal trial earlier this year. No one has been charged with the murder.
In addition to denying the defendants’ gag order request, Judge Brook Hedge also denied a defense motion to dismiss the entire case.
Hedge denied a third motion by the defense requesting that the defendants’ lawyers rather than the defendants themselves be allowed to recite the Fifth Amendment as grounds for not answering a question each time the plaintiff’s lawyers fire questions at the defendants.
Under this ruling, Price, Zaborsky and Ward must state for themselves—while on the witness stand or in pre-trial depositions—that they are invoking their Fifth Amendment right not to answer a question.
Robert Wone was found stabbed to death in a guest bedroom in the Dupont Circle area home of the three men in August 2006. The men have said an unidentified intruder killed Wone after entering the house through a rear door. Police and prosecutors disputed this claim, saying evidence showed that no one entered the home at the time of the murder and that the three men know who the murderer is but are covering up for that person.
A D.C. Superior Court judge, who presided over the non-jury criminal trial, ruled that the government did not provide sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the three men committed the offenses with which they were charged—obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and evidence tampering.
Legal experts have said civil cases require a lower threshold of proof, making it possible that the three gay defendants could be found responsible for Robert Wone’s death from a civil standpoint. A jury must decide the amount of monetary damages the men would be responsible for if found guilty.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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