According to the email, Field also told Austin that a Hispanic man charged in the attack, Frank Macias, mentioned in an interview with investigators that one of the gay men had made a racial comment to Macias’ group. 17 to inform them of the detective’s position. Recapping a recent conversation she had with the detective, prosecutor Andrea Austin emailed the attorneys representing the four defendants Jan. That assertion prompted their pursuit of a rare hate crime finding under state law.īut a new court filing shows that Austin police detective Robert Field, who investigated the fight, does not believe a hate crime occurred but thinks the fight started when one of the men in the group of four bumped shoulders with one of the gay men while they were passing on the street. Since the fight 12 months ago, the Travis County district attorney’s office has operated under the belief that the couple were targeted because they were holding hands after leaving a gay nightclub.
A new court filing contradicts a long-standing theory that Travis County prosecutors have used as the basis for a hate crime case against four men accused of beating up a gay couple in downtown Austin last year.