That doesn’t mean he can prove it in court. Proving someone’s state of mind is difficult. This defendant had no criminal record and no history of violent behavior, and is saying that he never intended harm, that he was just trying to make the judge feel the way a lot of LGBTQ people feel. His history makes that claim entirely believable. Granted, juries are unpredictable and you never know what you’re going to get, but I would feel good about my chances, if I were the defense attorney. Remember, the prosecutor has to prove the intent “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Regardless, giving him the max sentence is ridiculous. The whole reason you take a plea deal is to avoid that possibility. He might as well have gone to trial, if the judge was just going to give him the max sentence anyway. This result is no different than if he’d gone to trial and been found guilty.
