Description
On a September night in 1958, three New Orleans college students went on the lookout for a gay man to assault. They selected Fernando Rios, who died from the thrashing he received. In in all probability the earliest example of the “gay panic” defense, the 3 defendants argued that they’d no choice but to overcome Rios because he had made an “fallacious advance.” When the jury acquitted the 3, the courtroom cheered. The writer offers an in depth examination of the murder and the trial.