The trial for two men accused of beating up a gay man near Voyeur nightclub in the Gayborhood last year began on Wednesday.
Miguel Maldonado and Matthew Morris are both charged with aggravated and simple assault, conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person for the incident that took place in the early morning hours of Nov. 10, 2013.
The victim, Nick Forte, a former PGN employee, suffered broken eye sockets and cheekbones, a broken nose, other facial fractures and a broken rib after Maldonado, then a bouncer at Voyeur, allegedly struck him in the back of the head with a flashlight and Morris allegedly beat him while he was unconscious on the ground.
Security-camera footage that captured the event was played for the court this week.
Forte was called to the stand to testify, and identified the two defendants as the two people who appeared in the video.
Forte also testified that he had no recollection of what happened that night between the time he arrived at ICandy nightclub earlier in the evening and when he became conscious again after the beating. He could not remember if he was intoxicated or not, or whether he had actually entered Voyeur. He stated he was not normally a heavy drinker, and that he could have entered Voyeur — he said it would have been the only reason he was still out after ICandy closed — but could not remember because of the loss of short-term memory from the injuries he sustained.
The manager on duty at Voyeur that night also testified at the trial. She said that Forte did in fact enter Voyeur, was visibly intoxicated, acted belligerently and threatened club patrons. She said she witnessed Forte’s escort out of the club by bouncers, including Maldonado. She also testified that Forte attempted to reenter the club at the end of the night, around the time the club was closing.
She was also able to identify one of the defendants in the security-camera footage as Maldonado. And she testified that she received a call from Maldonado about an hour after the incident took place in which he informed her that “an incident had occurred with the same patron that was escorted out of the club earlier that night.”
She also stated she has since been let go from her job at Voyeur, but did not know if the termination was related to the incident.
The trial is scheduled to resume Feb. 27, at which time approximately five witnesses will be called to testify, including the woman who eventually helped Forte return to his parents’ home.
As a waiver trial, Court of Common Pleas Judge Giovanni Campbell will issue the verdict, not a jury.