Court hears accounts of fatal clash at Lake Natoma

Satender Singh was singled out before his death by a group of "Russians" after he was seen acting affectionately with other men, a sheriff's detective testified Tuesday during the opening day of a preliminary hearing in the hate-crime case.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Detective Elaine Stoops testified that several witnesses said tensions between Singh's friends and a "Russian-speaking" group escalated for hours on July 1 along the Lake Natoma shore after a Slavic family apparently told Singh's group that its behavior was offensive.

Singh was seen dancing with other men and acting affectionately in a way that apparently made him the target of threats.

Stoops said that at some point in the confrontation Singh's friends tried to defend him by pushing the Fijian immigrant to the back of their group and even lifting up a chair to try to shield Singh from his aggressors – a group that included defendant Aleksandr Shevchenko, 21.

The testimony Tuesday offered the first public glimpse into what happened that day, when Singh was punched and fell backward, hitting his head. He died four days later, resulting in a hate- crime charge against Shevchenko, a Sacramento man.

For months, the incident has captivated local activists as a symbol of the tensions between gays and some members of an evangelical Slavic movement that has endorsed hostile anti-gay rhetoric. It has spurred discussions on hate crimes from legislators to local public safety officials.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge John A. Mendez is presiding over the hearing, which continues today and will determine whether there is enough evidence to try Shevchenko for the crime.

Shevchenko, who arrived in court in a camel-colored suit with his parents, has pleaded not guilty to the single felony charge of intimidating and interfering with a person's rights for his alleged role in the fracas.

He remains free on $25,000 bail, as authorities continue to search for Andrey Vusik, 29, the key suspect accused of punching Singh.

Authorities believe Vusik fled to Russia shortly after Singh's death.

Before Stoops began her testimony, Shevchenko's defense attorney Kathryn Druliner filed a brief with the court that contested the hate-crime filing against her client.

"The event could have happened anywhere in America," the court document states. "This was an unfortunate mistake in judgment."

The seven-page brief said Singh's group "was acting out homosexual sex, by dancing between men" and that Vusik, who was at the park with his children, approached them to get an apology.

In the brief, Druliner compared the confrontation to the rivalry between Stanford and UC Berkeley fans, and said it was fueled by alcohol and ego and that the prosecution was "attempting to bootstrap a tragic conflict which resulted in a death to a hate crime."

Assistant District Attorney Rod Norgaard said he could not comment on the case.

During a brief recess, Georgette Imura of the Satender Justice Coalition, the advocacy group formed after Singh's death, said she found the defense analogy to be insensitive.

"They're trying to make it sound like some juvenile disagreement, likening it to two college football (teams)," Imura said. "To me, that makes light of a very serious and sad situation."

According to the detective, both sides engaged in name-calling, with Singh's friends calling the Slavic group "white trash" and Vusik and Shevchenko's group yelling at Singh's friends that they should go to 7-Eleven.

The language became more explicitly homophobic and profane, especially when Vusik demanded an apology from Singh, Stoops said.

Wolfgang Chargin, a Folsom resident who did not know either of the feuding groups, said he saw one of Singh's friends pick up a chair to try to shield Singh, Stoops said.

"He said that the shorter Russian male (Shevchenko) was going after the victim," Stoops said of her interview with Chargin. "The Russian group were clearly the aggressors."

Stoops said that Singh's friends told her that Vusik and Shevchenko followed them to their picnic table and continued to instigate a fight.

One of Singh's friends began calling 911.

"He thought something bad was going to happen," Stoops said.

The women and children who had been part of the "Russian-speaking" group were then sent away, the detective said. Two carloads of other Slavic men arrived at the park.

Stoops said those with Singh saw Vusik throw a plastic cup of beer at one of Singh's friends, and when Singh stood up he was punched.

None of the friends interviewed by the detective saw Vusik strike Singh, but another witness who was at the park walking his dog said he "saw the tall Russian male punch Singh," Stoops said.

"He said it was a huge punch that lifted the victim off the ground," Stoops said. "He said the victim did nothing to provoke the punch."

The witness, identified in court as Earl King Jr., did not know either of the groups and said he saw that they were "in each other's faces," Stoops said, and that the Russian group appeared to be the agitators.

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