Guilty Plea In Assault That Later Killed Man

Punched Near D.C. Bar, Victim Fell, Hit Head

A District man pleaded guilty to assault Thursday after admitting that he struck a Clinton man outside a Northwest Washington gay bar last year. The man later died of related injuries.

Robert Hanna, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault in the beating of Tony R. Hunter, 37. According to investigators, on the evening of Sept. 7, 2008, Hunter allegedly grabbed Hanna "inappropriately" outside the Be Bar nightclub near Eighth and N streets. Hanna punched Hunter, who fell and hit his head on the sidewalk. Hunter was taken to a hospital and lapsed into a coma. He died three months later.

Hanna was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter after the incident. But after a nine-month investigation and witness interviews, prosecutors reduced the charge to simple assault, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Flynn said.

In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors dropped a shoplifting charge against Hanna from last month after he was arrested for allegedly stealing items from the H&M store downtown.

Hanna was placed under house arrest after the 2008 incident and remains free on his personal recognizance.

The downgraded charge in Hunter's death angered many in the District. D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) urged Channing Phillips, acting U.S. attorney for the District, to take the case to trial.

"This was a homicide," Mendelson said. "The community feels that charging the assailant with a misdemeanor assault is inappropriate, and I agree."

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office would say only that the office plans to issue a full report of its investigation in coming weeks.

Still, during the hearing, the specifics and charges in the case baffled even Judge Rafael Diaz. "It still remains a mystery why Mr. Hanna struck the victim and the victim died," Diaz said.

Flynn said that neither Hanna nor Hunter had a weapon and that there was no claim of self-defense. Flynn called the case "unusual" because it started as a homicide but resulted in a "serious misdemeanor" charge.

Because Hunter died of injuries sustained when he hit his head on the sidewalk, Flynn said, Hanna was not "legally responsible for the homicide but morally responsible for his death." He urged Diaz to sentence Hanna to the maximum of 180 days in jail.

Hanna's attorney, Joseph Caleb of the District's Public Defender Service, said that Hunter played a role in the altercation.

Caleb said that Hunter provoked Hanna when he touched him and that his client, who had no prior violent offenses, struck him. "It was a knee-jerk reaction," Caleb said. "The government is downplaying the involvement of the victim."

Hanna will be sentenced Oct. 14.