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Southern Voice/March 28, 1991
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NEWS
Basher
Cont'd from page 1
Michael Shannon
Police arrested
Shannon shortly
afterwards in the
parking lot of the
Pharr Library,
where he had left
his car the night
before. He gave
police the name of
his dead brother—
Richard Shannon
—whose driver's
license he was using as identification. Despite
their repeated assurances to Germain that he
would be safe from Shannon, police released
Shannon on a $10,000 bond. The police were
aware that Shannon had previously lived out
side Georgia, had an arrest record in three
states and had bragged in detail of other mur
ders to Germain.
When Shannon jumped bail and did not
appear at his arraignment, police declared him
a fugitive and raised his bond to $100,000.
After an article about the crime appeared in
Southern Voice in January 1990, a reader
called the paper and informed us that the man
whose photograph accompanied the article
was actually Michael Shannon. Police were
made aware of the fact and Shannon was
extradited to Georgia in March 1990 after
being arrested in a Boston bar fight.
Shannon's trial was delayed four times
between March 1990 and March 1991 as his
attorney Tom West maneuvered to have
charges dismissed.
prevented District Attorney Grover Hudgins
from introducing Shannon's notorious
past—problems with drugs, DUI convictions,
the bar fight in Boston, numerous uses of false
identification—into the trial record.
West, however, was free to use questions to
make inferences about and accusations to
Germain.
Like a machine gun, West fired a stream of
incessant and incriminating questions at
Germain: "Isn't it true you lured my client into
your apartment to have sex with him?" "Do
you lure other young men?" "Do you suck
men's penises?" "Don't homosexuals suck
men's penises?" "Do you suffer any nervous
disorders?" "Do you seek doctor's treatment?"
"Did you drug my client?" "Isn't it true you
had his pants down and his penis in your
mouth?" "Have you ever taken advantage of a
man sexually?" "Do you have AIDS?"
Visibly shaken by West's attack, Germain
stuck to his story.
Two doctors testified; neither was able to
shed any additional light on the nature of the
attack. Dr. Arthur J. Simon, a specialist in
reconstructive surgery, corroborated
Germain's testimony saying that the man's
injuries were so severe as to have been caused
by more than one blow. West's expert witness,
Dr. Joseph Burton, a specialist in forensic
pathology, claimed that Germain's wounds
could have been caused by one blow as
Shannon had testified.
"It’s up to you to determine the credibility
of the witnesses," D.A. Hudgins told the jury
in his closing remarks. "This is not a trial of
the gay community. This is the trial of a
deranged man who sliced another human
being with a sword without reason—except he
probably doesn't recognize his own sexuality,
whether its homosexual or heterosexual. And
he took it out on Mr. Germain."
Michael Shannon appeared calm and self
confident as he described his version of what
happened on August 17-18, 1989 to the judge
and jury.
Shannon claimed that he is not gay and,
despite the fact that he had lived in the neigh
borhood for some time, did not know that the
Pharr Library was a gay gathering spot. His
reason for being there was to meet someone to
sell some tickets to a Rolling Stones concert.
He said that after 5-10 minutes he realized
that he was in a gay bar and walked to the
parking lot where Germain approached him
and offered to buy two tickets. The two went
to Germain's apartment to get the money to
pay for the tickets, Shannon testified.
At the apartment, Shannon said, Germain
offered him a beer and showed him his
antique collection which included the antique
sword. Shannon said he started feeling very
sleepy after drinking the beer. He claimed that
he then walked into the kitchen and saw three
or four empty capsules on the table. Shannon
says he then returned to the living room where
he passed out on the couch—he thinks as the
result of drugs that Germain slipped into his
beer.
Shannon then testified that he awoke to
find Germain performing oral sex on him.
Because he was scared, shocked and repulsed,
he took the sword and hit Germain once.
Shannon told the jury that he was sorry
Germain had gotten hurt but stressed that
forced sodomy is a felony. Shannon claimed
that he would have called an ambulance for
Germain had the attacked man not run out the
door. When that happened, Shannon said, he
decided to just go home.
If what Shannon said about feeling sympa
thy for Germain was true, it did not stop him
from allowing his attorney to unleash a
vicious assault on the victim when he took the
stand. Cathy Woolard of the ACLU's lesbian
and gay Police Advisory Board had worked
with Germain during the 19 months between
his attack and trial an observed much of the
trial. She described West's cross examination
of Germain as "appalling."
"West attacked Germain as a homosexual,"
she explained. "He deliberately changed the
circumstances to base his defense of homo
sexual panic. What he did to that man was
make him a victim once again."
Laws protecting the rights of the accused
The jury deliberated for almost two hours
before it reached its guilty verdict.
When Judge Hull asked both attorneys for
recommendations on Shannon's sentence,
West made one last effort to get his client off
the hook.
"Your honor," he appealed to the judge,
"because my client was not found guilty of
aggravated battery, just simple battery, there
fore they do not feel the crime is of a mali
cious nature. So I'm going to ask that my
client get probation."
"I want you to read aloud, and for the
record, what your client was found guilty of,"
Hull responded. "If you do not feel what your
client did was malicious, then read to me what
the jury thought."
West proceeded to read the formal state
ment which said that Shannon was found
guilty of aggravated assault—taking a danger
ous weapon and using it in an offensive man
ner, and with the intent to do bodily harm, to
cut and stab Mr. Germain.
"The jury's swift and clear guilty verdict
combined with Judge Hull's 21 year sentence
sends a strong message to would-be bashers,"
said the ACLU's Woolard. "The sentence can
never make up for the pain and suffering that
Germain has endured, but he deserves praise
and congratulation for his willingness to see
this through."
West would not say whether or not he
intended to appeal the verdict, but observers
noted that Shannon would likely be eligible
for parole (in about 7 years) before such an
appeal could be heard.
Shannon's parents were present throughout
the trial; they felt Hull's sentence was exces
sive. After the trial, Richard Shannon, Sr.,
turned to Germain and shouted, "I hope you
people are satisfied."
Germain remained silent and waited until
the Shannons had left the courtroom to make
any comment.
"I not sure what to say,” he then offered.
"Maybe I will later, when I've thought about it
for a while...I just wish I didn't have to go
through this. People see me now [after recon
structive therapy and 19 months of occupa
tional therapy] and they just don't realize all
I've been through."