LJWorld.com

A Douglas County jury on Tuesday found John Thomas Simmons guilty of hitting two fraternity brothers during a scuffle outside the Replay Lounge last winter.

Simmons, 31, testified hours earlier he had hit Marty McSorley and Ryan McAtee because he thought they were part of a group that had slugged his friend Jeffrey Medis, 29, who he'd found lying on the sidewalk, bloody and unconscious.

Medis, who is gay, suffered a broken nose, broken upper and lower jaws, a fractured eye socket, a concussion and a gash on his chin that took six stitches to close.

Simmons' attorney, Martin Miller, argued his client was trying to make a citizen's arrest when he hit McSorley and McAtee, both members of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity at Kansas University.

The jury wasn't swayed.

"It didn't seem like a strong enough defense," said juror Katherine Harris, who spoke with reporters after the verdict.

D.A., police questions

But the jury, she said, questioned the handling of the case by the Lawrence Police Department and Douglas County District Attorney's Office.

"We're upset that we were asked to sit in judgment of what Mr. Simmons did, when it appears that nothing is being done about the person who hit Mr. Medis," Harris said.

¢ 6News video: Medis disappointed in handling of case ¢ Witnesses: Fight not hate crime (7-29-03) ¢ 6News video: Witnesses testify in beating case (7-29-03) ¢ First charges filed in fight outside Replay Lounge (2-26-03) ¢ Beating victim questions case's progress (2-13-03) ¢ Police identify suspect in beating (12-25-02) ¢ Dozens at vigil decry beating (12-14-02) ¢ Police seek clues in beating (12-09-02)

Luke Wells testified Monday he hit Medis once in the face after Medis took two swings at Wells' friend, Nikolaus Eichman.

In exchange for his testimony, the District Attorney's Office granted Wells qualified immunity, agreeing not to use anything he said in court against him.

Harris said the six-member jury -- three men, three women -- considered the immunity agreement "very infuriating."

Police, she said, "dropped the ball by waiting so long to interview" those with Wells during the altercation.

Testimony indicated most of the witnesses were interviewed 10 to 12 days after the altercation -- enough time, Miller argued, for Wells, Eichman and their friends to cook their accounts of what happened.

Harris said most of the jurors didn't buy the fraternity members' claims that they were waiting for a ride outside the bar when they were accosted by Simmons and Medis and that Medis' homosexuality wasn't a factor in his beating.

Convincing witness

The trial's most convincing witness, she said, was Michael Fairchild, who was walking toward Medis and Wells when Medis was hit.

Fairchild said Wells and Medis were 10 feet from anyone else when Wells hit Medis on the left side of his face, causing Medis to fall face first on the sidewalk. He said Medis was not acting "confrontational."

Fairchild said he didn't know -- and still doesn't know -- Medis, Simmons, Wells or the fraternity members.

Asked by a reporter if he'd seen Medis take swings at Eichman, Fairchild replied, "It didn't happen that way at all."

Contrary to the fraternity brothers' testimony Monday, Medis and Simmons said they did not leave the Replay Lounge together and Medis was alone when he was hit.

Claim not believable

Harris said she found it hard to believe the fraternity members' claims they didn't know Medis was gay.

Medis, who makes no effort to conceal his homosexuality, testified that he was wearing heavy eye makeup that night and was wearing a white, frilly jacket that he said made him look like a "gay snowball."

Among jurors, Harris said, "there was a very strong belief that Jeffrey's being gay was a component in what happened."

Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney defended her department's handling of the case.

"Our strongest evidence in this case was against the defendant," she said, adding that she was "confident the police acted as quickly as they could."

Kenney said she expected to decide this week whether to file charges against Wells.

The immunity agreement with Wells, she said, "was not a pass from prosecution. It simply says that whatever he said on the stand can't be used against him."

Medis said he moved to San Francisco about a month ago.

"I love Lawrence, I love the people here," he said. "But I'm through with this town. I can't take the politics."

Simmons' sentencing is set for Sept. 5.